Dreamhaven: A Chipmunk Story
by BusyLovingGak
Summary: The first step to fighting darkness...is courage.
1. Sleep

**Dreamhaven - A Chipmunk Story**

Chapter 1 - Sleep

_Hello fellow readers, I present you with my new AATC project. It is a special one that I have only very recently begun after reading The Flower Halo Chronicles by Victory's Raconteur.  
>His epic tale inspired this one.<br>But before you begin, I feel I must tell you. This is not a normal chipmunk story. It is quite different from any story you've ever read. As it will be most epic, deep, sad, and most of all...satisfying, to every single one of you. Enjoy the beginning of a tale like no other..._

_**-Note: I also want to warn you, this chapter, is not one that many approve of. Many people have stopped reading my story from this chapter. That's when I realize I made a mistake, I made it a little too dark and there's some dialogue that I wish I would've left out. But there's not much I can do now except warn you, this chapter is a bit dark, but I can promise you, it is NOT like that the rest of the way. After this I can guarantee you will love my story. Just give it a chance, it gets much better. **  
><strong>Enjoy...-<strong>  
><em>

* * *

><p>Darkness...<p>

That is what filled the six Chipmunks' minds right now as they slept soundly in their respective beds, but not an evil darkness. It was a blissful Darkness. One that wrapped warmly around them as their minds patiently waited in Dreams' waiting room.

It was that time of sleep where your mind has finally drifted off into a blank, peaceful abyss. Your mind is enjoying the nothingness. Completely unstirred. But then, Dreams finally accept you into their embrace, and the ride begins...

Alvin stirred slightly as his dream grasped him tightly and pulled him deep under...

* * *

><p><em>He felt himself spinning lazily through what seemed to him to be a tornado. Except this tornado happened to be made completely of auburn colored fur...it was strange, yet comforting to the small chipmunk. <em>

_He looked upon it in awe as he continued to drift in circles inside it._

_But his staring at the strange tornado was interrupted, by a large flock of gray-feathered birds that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "I wonder how they got here?" Alvin thought in his head as he watched the creatures whirl around him. _

_That's when one of them stopped right in front of his face. _

_He tried to yell, but no sound came out. _

_He was deaf to his own voice._

_These baby-small, gray birds were not ordinary. They had no face. Their eyes and beak were simply non-existent on their bulbous heads._

_The tiny bird made a motion that looked like it was tilting it's head at Alvin's terrified face. It was a very strange sight, as the bird's head was merely a sphere and nothing else._

_It finally 'looked away' from the terrified, now floating chipmunk as it flew back to the giant flock that had now gathered in a big blob in front of him. Then, they began rapidly flying around in a frenzy, slowly beginning to form something, symbols as it seemed at first, but Alvin soon noticed their bodies were forming together to make letters. _

_And while this happened, the gray feathers that covered their bodies, ignited. Suddenly every single bird was covered completely in orange flames. Making the letter-forming all the creepier._

_After a few moments, they stopped. The hundreds of little flaming birds had formed together to make a word in midair. Alvin read it with Fear in his eyes._

_'HELP'. It read simply._

_Alvin wanted to scream. But once again, silence._

_So he tried to squeeze his furred eyelids shut. Not wanting to see the terrifying sight anymore. But his dream eyes betrayed him. His eyes saw 'through' their lids. Refusing to be shut out. _

_Finally after a few moments of utter silence, the birds dispersed. And suddenly flew directly toward the floating little terrified chipmunk._

* * *

><p>He screamed again. This time however, his cry of terror, did make a sound. A sound that in fact startled him awake. Along with four of the other occupants in the same room as him.<p>

"Wha-!" came the startled cry of Alvin's brother, Theodore and his friend, Jeanette, the poor little chipmunks, frightened so badly they mistakenly jolted out of their beds, they both landed on the floor with a painful thud.

"What, what happened Alvin?" Alvin's brother Simon asked, below him clearly woken up angry.

"Yea what's wrong with you?"Another of Alvin's friends, Brittany, asked groggily, sitting up from the sudden outburst.

"Oh, sorry guys. I guess I was just having a nightmare." Alvin admitted, sounding apologetic as he looked down at the two chipmunks on the ground that were now helping each other back up.

"Thanks Theo." Jeanette said to him thankfully.

"No problem," he replied with a smile as they both hopped back onto their own bunk beds.

Theodore couldn't help but notice as he looked over to his left, at the middle bunk of the Chipettes' bunk bed. His crush, Eleanor, was still sleeping. As far as Theodore noticed, she hadn't even stirred. And Eleanor was simply NEVER the deep sleeper. But he decided he wouldn't worry about it right now. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Just go back to sleep guys, I'm fine." Alvin assured them as Brittany looked at him worriedly. But she didn't worry about it for long. She was too tired.

Her auburn colored fur body lay back down against her soft, pink pillow. Falling asleep a couple moments later.

Jeanette, Theodore, and Simon, followed shortly after her. Too tired to worry about Alvin, they dropped to their respective pillows and drifted off to sleep.

But Alvin did not return to slumber, he lay awake, slightly shocked and scared at what he had seen. It had been so odd. So sudden. Alvin struggled in his mind to try to find out what it meant.

Not being able to find anything, he decided to go back to sleep. Hoping the dream would disappear, but for some reason, at the same he hoped it would return, discovering it's meaning.

Meanwhile, unnoticed by any of the five, now asleep chipmunks, Eleanor began to shiver, violently. The horrible dream she was having, finally affecting her...

Eleanor's mind was finally pulled into Dreams' warm embrace, her ride, just starting...

* * *

><p><em>She felt nothing, then, something. It was a strange feeling. <em>

_It was as though she was completely submerged in water. But at the same time, she felt completely dry, her blonde fur was not soaked with water in the slightest..._

_She didn't understand. But she slowly opened her fur-lidded eyes. Blinking._

_She saw a forest, it's trees swaying beautifully. They stretched on in every direction for miles and miles. After staring at the stunning, vast forest, she finally noticed that every single leaf on every single tree, was dark, red. And the leafs themselves were in the form of tendrils, swaying about, pointing upwards towards the sky as though they were trying to grasp something._

_Eleanor gasped at this, but her voice did not reach her ears..._

_Now this, she screamed at. Scared out of her mind at not being able to hear herself. It all suddenly, then disappeared._

_She fell, and kept falling. It seemed like an hour before she finally felt her furry pawed feet land softly and comfortably upon a soft field of grass._

_She took a moment to enjoy the soft, exquisite feel of the beautiful... blue grass?_

_'Oh well' Eleanor thought. It was truly beautiful and felt good between her furry toes. She wiggled them as she giggled. And that is when she finally turned around..._

_Eleanor gasped again._

_Standing barely fifty-feet away from her small chipmunk form, a seventy-story tall skyscraper stood in the middle of the field. It was made purely of glass. _

_It was an amazing sight. Eleanor gazed at it, in awe._

_But the moment did not last, because Eleanor only had a moment to admire the building. Suddenly, a GIANT figure climbed into her view. The monster-looking thing clung to the side of the building, making it's way to the main side of the building, the one that Eleanor was facing._

_She knew not to bother with screaming, but she was utterly shocked in complete Fear as she stared at the enormous scorpion-like creature. After staring for a moment, Eleanor couldn't help but notice, that this scorpion shaped thing was made entirely of auburn colored fur._

_Eleanor was even more scared at this, thinking of her older sister, Brittany._

_The creature finally looked up. Directly at the tiny, blonde chipette. Eleanor stared back at it's bright, pink eyes. Suddenly they flashed a bright vibrant, neon glow. The light was so blinding that Eleanor had to squeeze her furred eyelids shut shielding her face with her arms._

_A moment later Eleanor felt the ground beneath her feet began to rumble. She looked down in terror. Suddenly trees broke from the ground. Rising high into the air. But these were not normal trees, these were the red, tendril-leafed trees of Eleanor saw earlier in her dream. She looked up at the tendrils that swayed at the sky that was now turning from it's normal blue, to purple. _

_It was silent for a moment. But only just._

_The blood-red tendrils of the trees suddenly shot down and grabbed Eleanor. Wrapping around her legs and pulling her small chipette form high into the air. Almost a hundred feet up, Eleanor screamed in absolute terror. But her cry was not heard._

_The tendrils suddenly wrenched downward. Very quickly slamming the small chipette down into the blue grass, The ground shattered as her body hit the ground._

* * *

><p>Eleanor jolted awake.<p>

The horror of the dream haunting her...

She looked all around and saw that she was alone in her green-clad bed. She gently stroked the soft, downy material of her lime-green blanket.

She was wondering what the dream meant. If it even meant anything, she was not sure.

She then turned to her right looking at the cute, sleeping chipmunk across from her. _Theodore_, she thought lovingly. _Well I hope he isn't __having a horrible dream like me_. Eleanor thought to herself as she listened to his soft breathing, his chest rising and falling with each breath.

Another sound interrupted her. She looked up towards Alvin's bed.

She thought he had said something a little familiar. So she sat up and got out of bed, hopping onto Alvin's and listening carefully to what Alvin was mumbling.

"Brittany...fur...weird..." Alvin continuously mumbled in his sleep.

Eleanor looked at him in Fear. Her beautiful, lime-green eyes, scrutinizing the sleeping form of the brown furred chipmunk before her.

She shook her head of the thoughts she had. While still scared, she hopped back down to her bed and lay down against her soft pillow. Wanting to return to slumber to try to ignore the dream. Only praying that it wouldn't return...

* * *

><p><em> Upon returning to sleep, Alvin found himself drifting once more. <em>

_But this time, he was not in a tornado made of auburn, chipmunk fur._

_He was drifting slowly across a forest. He stared down at it. There was something not normal about the forest...the trees were normal trees. Beautiful greens leafs covered every branch._

_But there was something...off, about the forest._

_But before Alvin could figure it out, the forest began to change. The beautiful green leafs began to shiver, a lot. They then started disintegrating. Turning into a auburn colored fur. And the fur shot up at him. Encircling his floating body._

_'No not again!' Alvin yelled inside his mind._

_But his small body suddenly shot down, towards the now leafless forest. _

_He landed softly on the branch-covered floor of the forest. Despite the slightly terrifying sight, Alvin was suddenly at complete ease, Only a moment before he was frightened for his life. Now he was utterly calm._

_He took a step forward on the warm forest floor. Brown, fallen leaves and branches crunched under his furry, pawed, foot. He enjoyed the sound. It was peaceful here. But he didn't know why._

_This place was strange, yet so vivid. He actually felt the leaves crunch, while he felt the soft wind blowing through his brown fur. He felt and heard everything that happened. It's like he was actually there. _

_And that's when he noticed his furry chipmunk body was naked. He wasn't bothered by this because he felt too peaceful to care._

_So he continued walking forward. Weaving through dead looking trees for what seemed like a long time. He didn't know what he was doing or where he was going. He just kept walking, completely oblivious to the would-be terrifying, dark forest. _

_He finally walked up to the base of a rather large tree. It was easily a couple feet wide, and right at the tree's base, was a perfectly round opening to a hollow. _

_Alvin looked at it in interest. He couldn't spot what was inside, so he walked forward, as soon as he stepped into the doorway, a light flashed in his eyes, but he was unsurprised. He somehow just knew that it was going to happen. _

_Alvin had no clue what was going on, but he had no problem with it. _

_He then turned around to look at the hollow's exit, but it was not there._

_Where the hole in the tree was, there was now just walls around him. Alvin was trapped inside it, but this did not worry him, he was at peace. Almost happy._

_He walked forward to the other side of the tree hollow. Looking up, he saw something, strange. _

_A giant orange, glowing orb. Floated at the top of the tree hollow. It cast a yellow light along the walls of the tan colored wood._

_Alvin then looked straight ahead. There stood a small doorway, this one was closed off like the exit to a house. It even had a normal shaped doorknob._

_Above the wooden doorway read: _

_'THE HAVEN THAT LEADS TO ALL THAT IS NOT'_

_It was written in what seemed like black ink, as it was slowly dripping down along the walls of the hollow._

_Alvin didn't understand one bit what that meant, but he continued forward anyway._

_His paw reached for the doorknob and turned it._

_The small wooden door opened slowly as Alvin gently pushed it._

_Revealing another forest...this one was very similar to the previous. It's trees were leafless and the sky above was black, but instead of almost no light, this one had a very pale but visible moon in the sky. Only thing was, this moon was blue._

_But Alvin calmly walked forward on the now cold ground._

_Alvin kept walking through the blue-lit forest until he saw a strange sight. _

_He stepped over a barrier of flowers. And into a clearing._

_What intrigued him was there was a figure in the middle of the giant clearing of soft, green grass._

_It looked like it was moving. So Alvin walked up to the red-clad figure._

_It took him a moment to realize exactly who it was_.

_It was the girl chipmunk he loved, his friend, Brittany._

_She was on her knees, crying into the soft grass. Leaving tears in the green blades._

_Alvin noticed she was wearing a sparkling red dress. It's color seemed to be fading to a pinkish color, an ugly one. But Alvin ignored this as he knelt down to comfort his best friend._

"_Brittany what's wrong? I'm here you don't need to cry." Alvin said to her reassuringly._

_He noticed how his voice actually made sound this time._

_But that thought was stopped, as Brittany's head looked up at him._

_Finally, Alvin's blood ran cold._

_He was not staring into the eyes of the chipmunk he loved. Instead he was looking back at eyes that had nothing. No pupils, no color. Just filled with pure, blank, gray._

_Alvin didn't yell, he didn't move. He was too shocked._

_That's when the halo of flowers around them ignited._

_Circling them in a wall of blazing orange flames._

_Alvin looked around in horror. This was seeming a little familiar. That's when he turned back to Brittany, and screamed in pain. _

_Her fist suddenly connected with his pink little nose. Completely shattering the bones in it._

_Alvin fell to the ground in agony, clutching his now bleeding nose._

_He looked up at Brittany in horror. Staring into her blank, gray eyes as he suddenly heard a demonic roar echo around him from every direction._

_A single tear left Alvin's eye._

_He had no idea what was going on in this horrible, vivid nightmare. But he just wanted it to end._

_But then he felt something grab onto his leg. _

_And he was pulled upwards into the sky._

* * *

><p><em>Eleanor slowly peeked her eyes open. She was staring at the endless field of blue grass. And she was laying down on the ground on her stomach.<em>

_It took her a moment to realize she was in the same spot she was left in. Her small chipmunk body had crashed into the ground.  
><em>_Leaving a small crater around her. But that's when she noticed something, she had been slammed into the ground from almost a hundred feet in the air. Something that normally would've immediately killed a small chipmunk such as herself, but she was completely unharmed, and felt no pain. That's when she noticed the tree's blood-red 'leafs' still wrapped tightly around her ankles._

_She struggled against them with no avail. Suddenly more of the tree's tendrils shot at Eleanor, grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her back while two more wrapped around her chest and neck. Completely immobilizing her. _

_Eleanor__ whimpered in terror, wondering what exactly the trees were doing to her._

_While Eleanor trembled, the trees suddenly lifted her into the air, this time more slowly and with her body completely secured._

_They stopped moving, leaving her suspended in air, fifty feet off the ground._

_Eleanor was never one to like heights so this frightened her even more. _

_She suddenly stopped struggling against the red tendrils as she looked forward. Once again the desire to scream came across her, but it was futile._

_The enormous fur scorpion creature had climbed down from the building and slowly made it's way to Eleanor's tiny, bound form._

_"Do not fear me, young one," the giant intimidating scorpion-like creature spoke to her, but it had no mouth. The words echoed inside her mind._

_Eleanor jumped in surprise. It had spoken to her, but it made no sound. She heard it...in her head?_

_"Indeed you did, Eleanor," the creature's voice resounded in a booming echo when it said her name. It frightened her._

_Eleanor was about to say something, but realized her vocals were still not present.  
><em>

_"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Eleanor thought in her mind. A little intrigued, but scared at this fact._

_'I am All That Is Not, you are Eleanor Seville, and you will soon be called upon.' _

_And with that, the furry creature roared. Eleanor stared into it's bright, pink eyes, she was frozen in terror. She couldn't move anyway but now she was truly stunned._

_The roar was so ear-splitting that Eleanor eyes actually blacked out for a moment._

_When the sight finally came back to her eyes, she was no longer in the grasp of strange tree tendrils and was not staring at a frightening, giant scorpion that was made of her older sister's fur. She was now standing in a hallway. _

_Eleanor quickly realized that she was in the downstairs hallway of the Seville house. The house that her and all the other chipmunks shared._

_It was almost pitch-black downstairs. So as Eleanor walked forward in the eerie darkness she stumbled a few times. She finally reached the living room. And for some reason she did not know. She walked over to the backyard door. She looked through the glass. And saw something..._

_She hopped up onto the doorknob, turning it, and pushed the door open. And she walked outside onto the dark, moonlit grass._

_She slowly walked through the yard as she made her way over to the small figure she saw. It was lying next to a tree._

_"Theodore?" Eleanor asked quietly as she walked up to his prone form in the grass, under the moonlight shade of the tree._

_But Theodore did not respond to her voice. He simply lay there, motionless, his eyes open wide, staring up at the trees' dark, green leaves in the night sky._

_Eleanor stared at his unmoving, small body. There was something strange about him. He was never like this, Theodore never ignored her. He never woke up in the middle of the night to lay outside. He was scared of being alone, and of being outside in the dark, but that wasn't even the weirdest part._

_Eleanor noticed he was wearing a black, hooded, sweatshirt. And it was covered in scratches, scrapes, and holes. Revealing Theodore's, light-brown, blondish fur beneath._

_That's when Theodore slowly sat up and looked at Eleanor. She stared back into his dark-green eyes. They were very similar to her beautiful, lime-green ones._

_Now Eleanor definitely knew that Theodore was not himself. And it was really creeping her out._

_"Theodore what's wro-" but she was interrupted as Theodore began to speak._

_"You couldn't save them. You knew you wouldn't be able to, and now, everyone suffers. They are being tortured as you sit by and do nothing." Theodore said to her in a voice that sent chills down Eleanor's spine. "Theodore, what are you talking ab-" but she was interrupted again._

_"How can you continue to live? Knowing the horror of what is happening to your sisters?" Theodore was almost yelling at her now._

_ "I-I don't understand Theo..." Eleanor was trying to say without crying._

_"All your friends and family are probably dead, or worse, because of you Ellie, even me. And the ones you were called upon to guard. They are in ultimate peril, the Veil will soon be cut, you have lost, you have FAILED!" Theodore finally yelled at her. _

_Eleanor started to cry. She didn't have any idea what Theodore was talking about, but it was scaring her._

_"Theodore...you don't know what you're saying...you're sick right now, just please stop talking like this...It's not making any sense, Teddy." Eleanor tearfully told him through sobs. Theodore had never spoke to her in such a way. And it was breaking her heart. She stepped forward and threw her small arms around him, hugging him close to her._

_"Come on Theo, let's...just go inside and lay down. I can help you get something to eat, I can help you feel better," she continued to cry into his shoulder as she refused to let him go._

_"No Eleanor, you are pathetic, even as the worst possible is happening, you simply want to forget about it, you're useless... Why don't I just kill you right here!" Theodore yelled as he shoved Eleanor to the ground._

_She looked up with teary eyes at him as he stood over her, she thought that whatever he was so angry about, it was somehow all her fault, because Theodore would never be like this unless something was really wrong. Perhaps it was better if she let Theodore kill her. At least her nightmare would end._

_She squeezed her eyes shut, managing to close off her tears. Waiting for the end to come._

_But suddenly, something grabbed her ankle, and yanked her away towards the sky..._

* * *

><p>The two chipmunks screamed as they flew threw the air. Something gripped tightly to their ankles as it took them to somewhere unknown.<p>

Alvin and Eleanor finally got the courage to look up at the thing that was clutching them.

It was an owl, a giant Spotted Owl. It's claw-like talons clamped tightly to their tiny ankles, dangling them upside down as it soared through the night sky.

That's when Alvin and Eleanor looked around and noticed each other. They were about to say something but were quickly stopped as the owl's talons suddenly let go and they were dropped to the ground below.

They hit the floor with an 'OOPH!' as the wind was knocked out of them.

It took a moment before Alvin realized what happened, he slowly stood up and then remembered something. He quickly reached up at his nose, it was completely unharmed. "How strange..." Alvin thought to himself remembering how he had felt his bones shatter from... Brittany punching him.

Alvin almost wanted to cry, Brittany had never hurt him before. It was terrible even if it was just a dream.

He decided to forget about it for now as he looked around, checking his surroundings. Then he noticed the blonde, female chipmunk a couple feet away from him, she was rising to her feet and looking around in confusion.

"Eleanor!" Alvin shouted with happiness in his voice as he ran over to the small chipette and hugged her tightly.

"Oh Alvin am I glad to see you here!" Eleanor said with tears in her eyes as she happily returned the hug. The moment seemed like it lasted for hours, they were so happy to see each other that Alvin tenderly encircled his bushy tail around Eleanor's leg while she instinctively wrapped hers around his ankle. For a chipmunk, this was a sign of protection and happiness.

Finally, they let go of each other, realizing that their furry bodies were naked.

"Well, uh...y-yea it's good to see you too Ellie." Alvin stuttered as his cheeks blushed under his fur.

"Yea, um... pretty weird dream here huh?" Eleanor spoke quietly, looking down nervously at her paws.

"_This is much more than a dream, Eleanor."_

Both the chipmunks jumped in shock at the sudden, loud voice of someone else there with them. They whipped around and saw the giant, Spotted Owl that had stole them from their nightmares. The Owl apparently noticed their Fear because he quickly responded.

"_Oh yes, I apologize about yanking you out of there and the hard landing, I forgot you are much weaker in these forms. But I couldn't let you deal with those... things anymore," Alvin and Eleanor stared at the owl in shock._

"B-but... Wh-Who are you? And what are you talking about?" Alvin asked the owl. Fear quite clear in his voice.

"_What you two saw, were phantoms. Dream figures yes, but powerful ones. They were meant to warn you, of the future, and the events to come."_

Alvin and Eleanor glanced at each other in confusion. _Phantoms? Future?_

"What do you mean by 'events to come'?" Eleanor asked with an edge to her voice.

The Owl's giant, pitch-black eyes swept over the small chipette and he sighed.

"_You, your friends, your family. You are all about to be called. For you are chosen."_

The two chipmunks were too shocked to say anything so the owl continued.

_"The Veil is damaged, and it has been put into physical forms. And for the sake of Earth and Dreamhaven itself. _  
><em>The Chipmunk and Chipettes have been deemed the ones worthy to guard the Ether Veil's Earthly forms."<em>

The owl finally stopped to look at Alvin and Eleanor. They stood there for a moment until Alvin finally spoke up.

"So you're trying to tell us that there's this 'Vayle' thing, whatever that is, that it's in trouble and it's now gone solid on our planet, and we have to protect it?"

Alvin said with ultimate sarcasm in his voice.

"Man, these dreams just keep getting weirder...first I'm practically attacked by faceless birds, then I'm dropped into a forest with some messed up, evil Brittany that decides she's got something against my nose, and now a giant owl tells me, my brothers, and friends that we're all worthy to guard something that I can barely pronounce!" Alvin panted as his rant came to an end.

"This dream does sound a bit strange, mister owl," Eleanor said softly to the owl.

But he simply glanced at the two chipmunks staring at them. He had a look on his round face that he almost knew this would be their exact responses.

Then he spoke again in a different, more sorrowful tone.

_"I am truly sorry about this Alvin, Eleanor. But you have no choice, and neither do I. You and your brothers and sisters do not deserve such a thing, for you are so innocent, so young, but Fate has chosen. You are chosen." _The owl spoke distantly as he turned around and began to walk away into darkness.

Alvin and Eleanor simply stared at him. Not sure what to say.

_"All will be very clear soon enough, for now. Prepare yourselves. Ether and Vayle have arrived, tomorrow will be quite something to behold. And we will meet again."_

And with those final words. The Spotted Owl slashed both his giant wings through the air, creating a dark, shadow that overcame him and rushed towards the two chipmunks rooted to the spot. It flooded them in darkness and the world faded to nothing.

* * *

><p>Alvin and Eleanor woke up gasping for air.<p>

They felt like they were just thrust into water, but they were dry and safe.

Then they remembered the dream, and everything in it.

Alvin rolled over and looked down at Eleanor's bunk. She was already staring up at him.

Their eyes met as the moonlight shone through the window and illuminated their furry faces in the dark room.

Alvin stared into Eleanor's lime-green eyes as she looked deep into his dark-brown ones. Fear was easily visible in their eyes as the silence played out.

Not so deep down they both knew, that every word the owl had said to them, was completely true. They didn't understand most of it or what exactly was supposed to happen but they knew that it was no normal dream that their minds shared. It was a warning.

Finally their eyes pulled apart. And without a word the two scared chipmunks rolled back over onto their pillows and immediately fell into a deep, peaceful, dreamless sleep...

* * *

><p><em>The true Dream...hasn't even begun yet.<em>

_Prepare yourself because this ride is going to be one that you couldn't imagine._

_-Haven to the Dark (BusyLovingChipmunks) _

Review this Chapter 


	2. Ether and Vayle

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 2 - Ether and Vayle**

**_Hello fellow readers, I apologize for my lack of updating this story for the past few days. I was just simply encountering a few problems. I just wanted to make it as good and easy to understand as possible. _**

**Since my lack of having a beta, this was extra difficult. Please understand. But the best part is that closing this chapter, is saying goodbye to all the boring parts of this. Make sure to pay attention to every single detail or you might miss something, Enjoy.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Most people underestimate the rising sun on a perfectly crisp, November morning.<p>

The tiny orange glow just barely peeking over the horizon as it lightly cuts through the blueish hue lingering from the sky being tinted from the sun's early light.

It was morning's twilight.

The cold air from the night still lingering like a blade of ice ready to strike at anyone who dares to leave the safety of their homes.

Truly it was a beautiful sight, especially for someone living in the suburbs of Hollywood.

But despite that, most didn't even wake up early enough to see this amazing sight.

Especially for two certain chipmunks who were in far too peaceful of a slumber to even remember that they had to be at school in...-

"Twenty Minutes!" Brittany yelled into her little sister's tiny ear.

But Eleanor simply flicked her furry ear across Brittany's nose and rolled over. Not even acknowledging the fact that Brittany was officially mad.

"Oh that's it," she mumbled as she walked over to the edge of Eleanor's blanket and grasped it tightly with her two paws, and gave it a sharp yank.

Eleanor screamed in surprise as she was abruptly awoken as her body was flipped through the air and she landed face-first onto her pillow. Suddenly, she was fully alert.

"AH! What? What happened? I'm awake!" Eleanor cried in a panic. She hopped up from her pillow and was spinning her head around, as if looking for danger.  
>Her eyes finally stopped on the pink-clad form of her sister, standing a couple feet away on her bed, smiling. Lime-green blanket still in hand.<p>

"Hey 'sleepyhead', it's only 'quarter till eight' and school starts at... uh, let's see...EIGHT TEN!" Brittany finally yelled at Eleanor, startling her enough to drop back down on her pillow.

"Now, breakfast is ready, Ellie." Brittany said in a false-sweet voice as she batted her eyes at her baby sister. Eleanor just glared at her silently.

But Brittany ignored it as she hopped off Eleanor's bed and made her way up to Alvin's top bunk.

He was laying on his back, snoring quietly. Clearly quite deep in sleep.  
>But Brittany just rolled her eyes and walked over to him and gave him a kick in his side.<p>

He didn't budge, Brittany smiled.

She reached down a plucked a single fiber from his red blanket and reached for him and grabbed his face. She reached down and tickled his nose with the tiny fiber.

Alvin's nose only twitched slightly and as Brittany was about to give up...

"NO! DON'T HIT ME!" Alvin suddenly screamed as he jolted awake and scrambled to the far wall corner of his bed, covering his face with his arms.

"Alvin what are you talking about?" Brittany asked curiously, partially startled from Alvin's random outburst.

She had known him to pretend with such things as this but this time, he looked genuinely scared.

But Alvin was still in a tired state as he inched backward a little bit more, finally reaching the gap between the bunk bed and the wall.

He suddenly tumbled down, as gravity got the better of him.

He yelped in surprise as he landed on his head on Theodore's vacant bed below.

Groaning in pain, he slowly pushed himself onto his four paws as he shook the sleep out of him. That's when he looked up and locked eyes with Eleanor, who was still sitting on the edge of her bed, right across from Theodore's.

She was looking at him fearfully. They were both thinking the same thing.

Then Brittany suddenly dropped down onto Theodore's bed, landing directly between the staring session between Alvin and Eleanor.

"You alright Alvin?" she asked, sounding worried.

Alvin looked at her for a moment. Searching her up and down. Finally he reached her eyes. He stared into those ice-blue jewels for a moment before sighing in relief.

"Uh, yea Britt I'm fine. You just scared me a little is all." Alvin said in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, well that's new," she giggled, actually feeling a little guilty.

_Yea I guess it is. _Alvin thought to himself.

"Well anyway, breakfast is ready and school starts in twenty minutes so you and Ellie need to get your butts downstairs!" Brittany said, suddenly remembering why she woke them up.

"OK we'll be there, right Ellie?" Alvin said, directing the question towards Eleanor. Peeking around Brittany.

Eleanor blinked in surprise, clearly previously deep in thought.

"Uh yea, of course. Wouldn't miss that!" Eleanor said happily to Brittany.

Satisfied, Brittany hopped off Theodore's bed and walked over to the bedroom door. But turned around to see that Alvin and Eleanor hadn't followed. They were both standing there silently, staring at the ground.

"And I mean Now!" Brittany yelled, getting impatient.

Alvin and Eleanor snapped out of their trance, giving each other a look, they hopped off the beds and followed Brittany downstairs.

* * *

><p>The kitchen downstairs was oddly quiet for a morning like this in the Seville household.<p>

Usually around this time you would hear the bustling of movement.

Which would come from a number of different things. Whether it be Alvin and Brittany racing each other around the kitchen table in order to settle an argument, or Theodore and Eleanor hopping across the counters, busily fixing a good hot, breakfast.

Not this time however. As the three noisiest chipmunks in the house were absent at the moment.

In fact the only movement in the kitchen was the slight twitch of Jeanette's eye as she was busy concentrating on something. Simon and Theodore stared at her intently, waiting silently for her to finally speak.

She simply raised a finger, eyes still closed. Focusing.

"Don't tell me, uh... blueberry?" Jeanette said opening her eyes and looking at Theodore and Simon for a response.

Theodore looked impressed. "Yea! Wow Jeanette how do you always do that?" Theodore asked as he walked back over to his spot on the kitchen table and sat down to finish his breakfast.

"Let's just say poptarts are probably my favorite food, so I know which is which." Jeanette said proudly, holding her head up high.

"Yea I'd say, that's the fourth one in a row." Simon pointed out as he continued scarfing down his own heated up poptart, as he watched Jeanette nibble on hers.

After a few moments Dave finally spoke from the other end of the kitchen table.

"Hey guys where's Alvin?" he asked with a suspicious glance at the three chipmunks on the table.

"He's upstairs still asleep, but so is Eleanor. Why'd you only ask about Alvin?" Simon asked inquisitively, already knowing the answer.

Dave just quickly yanked his newspaper back in front of his face. Simon chuckled quietly.

Just then Brittany turned the corner.

"Look who I brought!" she said loudly like a circus introduce man.

Alvin and Eleanor slowly trudged around the corner, dragging their feet on the ground tiredly.

"Oh good morning Ellie!" Theodore said happily.

"Good morning Theo." she replied with a slight smile.

"Ugh, my head is starting to ache." Alvin complained as he rubbed the spot where his head impacted Theodore's bed.

Suddenly Jeanette jumped in the air in glee.

"Yes! Remember Simon, I want an A on it." she said happily but smugly.

Simon just glanced at her and rolled his eyes, then turned to Alvin.

"Me and Jeanette made a bet that Brittany was going to hit you, and now I gotta do her homework." he explained to Alvin, who was looking confused.

"Well I wouldn't technically call it 'hitting'... actually never mind, yea I would!" Brittany said laughing.

They all laughed as they each hopped to their individual spots on the table, warmed-up poptarts already put out for Alvin, Eleanor, and Brittany.

"Yum," Eleanor mumbled as she took a big bite of her breakfast. "Chocolate Chip, my favorite. Thanks Theo!" she said as she enjoyed the delicious poptart.

Everybody else ate their meals quietly. But the silence finally got a little uncomfortable

"So anyway," Jeanette said, "Me and Simon are starting a new project in our Nature class at school." she said happily.

"Oh really?" Dave asked, "What's it about?" he said, not really paying attention but wanting to contribute to the conversation nevertheless.

"Well, we were all assigned to pick a mythological creature and write out any info we can find about it and present it to the class. Simon wanted to do the Hydra, but that seemed a little scary so we settled on Dyre Wolves." Jeanette explained as everybody continued to eat. Only half interested. But Eleanor looked up from her food.

"Dire Wolves? How are those mythological? The Dire Wolf species actually existed Jeanette." Eleanor explained, clearly surprised Jeanette might actually get something mixed up.

"No, Eleanor not 'Dire Wolves', I'm talking about 'Dyre Wolves', you know with a 'Y'? Yea they are completely different from the 'Dire' species. Dyre Wolves are creatures that were blessed with incredible powers, from having glowing eyes that could destroy their enemies, to being able to morph into other creatures to adapt. They are a very interesting species." Jeanette carefully told Eleanor, trying not to confuse her.

Alvin wasn't really listening to the conversation that much, he was deep in his own thoughts. A question kept popping up in his head. One that he needed to be answered.

"Hey Jeanette, can I ask you a question?" Alvin asked, looking intently at Jeanette, waiting for her response. Jeanette looked surprised at Alvin's sudden request.

"Well you didn't really give me much of a choice there..." Jeanette said jokingly, but she saw Alvin was being very serious.

"Uh, yea go ahead." she said nervously.

"Have you ever heard of something called the Ether Veil?"

A strange silence settled in the dining room as everybody stopped what they were doing to look at Alvin.

Eleanor heart dropped in fear as she recognized those words. She glanced over at Alvin and noticed him staring at her.

But everybody focused on Jeanette as she answered.

"Well, uh...Alvin I'm surprised you'd ask such a thing. I didn't know you read books." Jeanette said, half laughing while looking very confused at the strange, random question.

Alvin also looked confused.

"No, I don't, I just heard it...somewhere and I was wondering what it was." he said quickly, looking down at his food.

Jeanette looked at him strangely. Noticing he was acting very...different comparing to the normal, reckless, rude, energetic chipmunk she was so used to.  
>She decided to ignore it for now.<p>

"Well Alvin, the Ether Veil is an 'artifact' of sorts. Studied by many scientists and geologists alike. Although 'Ether Veil' is a very ancient term, not used anymore in it's studies."

Jeanette carefully explained this to Alvin as everybody else listened intently. Alvin was quiet, trying to contemplate what she meant.

"But what exactly is it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well Alvin, have you ever heard of alternate realities?" Jeanette asked him as she finished her poptart and turned towards him.

"You mean like, other worlds like this one but different types of it? Uh, yea I know a little about that, why?" Alvin asked curiously, wondering where she was going with this.

Jeanette nodded, impressed. "Well yea Alvin, that's basically the idea, like in this reality, Theodore is nice and sweet, but in another reality, he might be some kind of axe murderer." Jeanette told Alvin seriously.

"WHAT?" Theodore yelled in surprise.

But Jeanette merely grinned at his frightened expression.

"No, Theodore I was only using an example." she told him, trying not to laugh.

Theodore looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Anyway, Alvin the Ether Veil is pretty much the barrier that separates the dimensions and other realities from each other. It's what keeps everything we know intact. Without the Ether Veil, our universe as we know it would be submerged in a chaos worse than anybody could imagine, because it would mean all the dimensions and realities would merge with each other... Truly you can't imagine a worse thing to happen than the Ether Veil being destroyed." Jeanette finally finished her explanation. And the whole room was silent.

Alvin and Eleanor were staring at the table, completely deep in thought and fear as they recited the same thoughts over in their head.

_"The Veil is damaged, and it has been put into physical forms. And for the sake of Earth and Dreamhaven itself. _ _The Chipmunks and Chipettes have been deemed the ones worthy to guard the Ether Veil's Earthly forms."_

The worse part was the feeling they felt after they woke up, it was an absolute certainty that the words they heard were completely true. Not merely a dream, a warning.

"Wow, that was quite a show guys!" Brittany said sarcastically, finally breaking the silence.

"As much as I would love to continue this, we have school in TEN MINUTES!" Brittany yelled at everybody.

Dave jumped up in surprise as he looked at the clock.

"Come on guys get ready we got to leave soon! And Alvin, Eleanor go get ready!" he said as he gathered up the remains from the breakfast and put it in the sink and sped into his office room.

Alvin and Eleanor made their way upstairs to get ready for the school day.

The other four chipmunks went to the living room, waiting for their siblings.

"So what do you guys think that was all about?" Simon asked absentmindedly as he read a newspaper.

"Yea, the whole thing with Alvin asking random questions and Eleanor being totally quiet the whole time and the way they looked at each other. It was almost creepy!" Brittany said as she thought about the fearful looks she caught Alvin and Eleanor sharing.

"Well, they're definitely hiding something, and I plan on finding out." Jeanette said simply.

* * *

><p>The six chipmunks said their final goodbyes to Dave as he drove off in the car after dropping them off in front of their high school. West Eastman High.<p>

They were silent as they made their way up the flight of steps and into the school's front doors.

But Jeanette wanted to get a word in before they went to class.

"So Alvin, Eleanor. Are you guys feeling alright today?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. But she was horrible at it.

Alvin was about to retort but Eleanor cut in.

"Of course we're fine Jeanette, why do you ask?" Eleanor replied sounding innocent.

"Oh nothing, you two just seemed to be acting pretty weird at breakfast earlier." Jeanette spoke quietly, starting to feel guilty for being nosy.

Alvin rolled his eyes.

"We're fine Jeanette, don't worry about it." he snapped back at her. He didn't mean it to sound so bad, but it just came out.

Jeanette looked away at the floor, sadness and guilt in her eyes.

"S-sorry Alvin." she stuttered nervously as they reached their lockers in the crowded school hallway filled with bustling students rushing to get to their first classes.

Now Alvin felt guilty.

"It's okay Jeanette." Alvin said, knowing he was horrible at apologies.

The chipmunks finally got all their books and supplies they needed and said their goodbyes as they all left for their separate classes.

First period was the only class where they were all separate. Therefore it was the one they most dreaded.

Alvin had history, a class he hated most dearly. Brittany had wood shop, one she didn't actually participate in, rather used the time to chat with friends. Eleanor had geology, she always left unhappy. Theodore had math, he feared this one because mathematics was something he always drew a blank on. Simon had P.E., which he was just plain horrible at. And Jeanette had science, not one she really hated but she was just so lonely that she never had any fun.

Jeanette waved at the science teacher, Mr. Brussel, as she walked in the doors. They automatically shut behind her.

"Ah, Jeanette we have been waiting for you." Mr. Brussel said to her as she hopped up to her seat in the front row of desks in the classroom. But her desk was different. Because of her tiny stature, there had been several textbooks placed on the seat for her so she was elevated enough to use her desk.

Jeanette looked over at the clock.

8:00

She was perfectly on time.

"But I'm not late Mr. Brussel, what's wrong?" Jeanette asked curiously.

"Oh no, nothing wrong Jeanette, it's just, we were waiting for everyone to arrive before I introduced the new student." he said happily.

Excited chatter rung around the classroom as everybody reveled at the thought of something new finally happening to the normally boring class.

Jeanette also thought this would be quite a benefit. She looked around the room, searching for some new person sitting in a previously unoccupied desk. She found nobody.

Turning to the teacher she asked.

"Um, Mr. Brussel, where is the new student anyway?"

He simply gave a small laugh as he stepped to the side, revealing the new student, who was standing on his desk.

The class stared in shock at the tiny chipmunk standing shyly next to the teacher.

It was a beautiful chipmunk, or chipette for that matter. Her sparkling green t-shirt and glittering red skirt brightened her eyes perfectly. Strange thing was, her left eye was violet-purple while her right eye was a beautiful, shining ocean-blue.

But the strangest part of this chipette's appearance was the fur that covered her body. It was a dark black, with just the slightest hint of brownish-gray in it.

A very strange attribute for a female chipmunk to have.

Her dark hair was mostly tied back into a rather messy ponytail that was lopsided to the left slightly. While a dark, messy bang hung slightly over her left eye.

On top of all this, she was wearing a bright, white backpack. This threw off all the other colors that she wore.

But did so quite nicely. Seeing as how the whole class stared in shock, including Jeanette, this chipette was quite beautiful.

"Well anyway class, our little student here just enrolled today. Her name is Ether Dream." Mr. Brussel announced happily to the class as they were finally snapping out of their staring sessions.

Ether quietly blushed as she looked down at her bare, furry feet.

Unfortunately for her, Mr. Brussel didn't notice it, as her fur was almost too dark for a blush anyway.

Mr. Brussel continued to speak, but Jeanette wasn't listening. Her mind was wandering wildly.

_Ether? Did he say Ether?_

Jeanette stared at the dark furred chipette who was still looking down at her feet. Apparently counting her toes, looking quite embarrassed to be the center of attention.

_Now why would Alvin ask questions about the Ether Veil, then the same day, some new chipette shows up at school and her name is Ether! There's got to be a connection._

Jeanette thought to herself, trying to find out the meaning of the two things.

"Well, Jeanette has a free spot, why don't you sit next to her?" Jeanette heard Mr. Brussel say. She suddenly snapped to attention.

Ether was looking at Jeanette with a smile, she gave a nervous wave, which Jeanette returned, forcing a smile.

"Yea, Okay." Ether spoke quietly to Mr. Brussel as she hopped down from his desk and walked over to the empty one next to Jeanette

Jeanette noticed how Ether's quite voice sounded strangely like a mixture of Eleanor and Brittany's. It was weird but she just somehow caught it.

She watched as Ether hopped up onto the desk next to her and then stopped. She didn't reach the desk's height.

Jeanette noticed this and decided to be kind. She spoke up to the teacher, "Mr. Brussel, Ether isn't tall enough, do you think you can get her some books to sit on? Like me?" she asked politely.

Mr. Brussel glanced at Ether and nodded. Walking over to the bookshelves and pulled out some old textbooks, walking over to Ether's desk and setting them in the seat of the desk, allowing the small chipette to be able to sit at the desk properly. She hopped up on top of the books and set her backpack down. Jeanette turned to her, wanting to be friendly, she spoke.

"Hi, my name's Jeanette," she said politely, holding out her paw.

Ether glanced at her with her two, bright eyes. And swept her messy bang out of her face and took Jeanette's hand shyly.

"Hi, I'm Ether," she spoke quietly, meeting Jeanette's violet eyes for a moment, but quickly looked away.

_Wow, she really is shy. I remember when I was like that, but then again I still kinda am._

Jeanette thought to herself with a small grin.

"Anyway class, don't worry if you didn't bring your books, because today we are doing a little experiment." Mr. Brussel told the class, smiling widely.

The room echoed with 'Yes!' and 'Awesome!'. As everybody was used to doing nothing but reading and copying notes all the time. This was a slight luxury to them.

The experiment was for each student to prick a drop of blood from their finger and examine the cells under a microscope. Standard lab for any high school science class.

So the class was separated into groups of two.

"Would you like to be my partner?" Jeanette asked Ether as she set up the microscope that was just handed to her by the teacher.

"Yea, sure" Ether replied with a slight smile.

"Alright, come over to my desk, we'll take turns." Jeanette told Ether as she retrieved the small needles that was taped to the microscope.

Ether hopped onto Jeanette's desk and watched her carefully as Jeanette began.

She carefully lowered the needle down onto her index finger and lightly poked it.

A tiny drop of blood appeared on the needle and Jeanette then placed the needle tip on the glass slider and put it under the microscope lens.

Jeanette hopped up onto the microscope and observed the scope. Thousands of microscopic little cells floated around on the slider.

_Amazing._ Jeanette thought.

Having seen enough, she hopped down and removed the slider and replaced it with a clean one.

"Alright, your turn." Jeanette told Ether as she gave her a clean needle.

"Thanks." Ether replied, taking the needle and sitting down so she could hold it steady.

And as she carefully lowered it down to her dark furred index finger. Jeanette was looking away, staring outside through the science room's large window that covered the entire wall. She was deep in thought.

_Alvin and Eleanor did look pretty scared when I told them what the Ether Veil was, and here's some girl chipmunk named Ether, it's so weird. Does Alvin know her?_

Jeanette contemplated all this as Ether was trying to keep her shaking paw steady as she didn't want to hurt herself.

"Ouch!" Ether yelped as she accidentally jabbed her finger too hard, blood trickled down her finger.

But something else happened, the moment Ether jabbed herself, the large window Jeanette was staring at, shattered into a thousand pieces.

Students screamed as they panicked and threw their bodies to the ground.

"WHAT THE-?" Mr. Brussel yelled as he also jumped behind his desk, to avoid the glass that flew through the room.

Jeanette screamed as she quickly jumped behind the microscope, she pulled Ether behind it with her. Shielding them from the shards as they pelted the desk and walls everywhere.

After a few moments all was silent. Jeanette slowly peeked around from cover and gasped.

The entire room was covered in tiny shards of glass, everybody was on the floor, cowering with their hands on their heads.

Mr. Brussel slowly rose up from behind his desk. Looking on at his demolished classroom.

"Uh, you guys can get up now, but be careful. Someone go get the front office. Tell them what's happened." Mr. Brussel told the class in a shaky tone.

Slowly, students began to stand up. After a few moments of checking, they found out nobody was hurt, just a few scrapes but everybody was fine. Just in shock.

"Wh-what happened Jeanette?" Ether asked quietly.

Jeanette glanced over at the dark furred chipette, she was still sitting next to the microscope, holding her legs tightly to her chest. Clearly too scared to move.

"I'm not sure, it sounded like some kind of explosion, but I was looking at the window. It just, 'shattered'." Jeanette said slowly, trying to believe it herself.

She walked over and sat down beside Ether. The two chipettes sat in silence as they waited.

The office apparently called the fire department because a few minutes later multiple suited men entered the room.

They escorted all the students out into the hall. By that time almost every classroom in that hallway was out, because the bell had just rung, all the students were switching classes and everybody was gathering in front of Mr. Brussel's classroom door to look inside at the damage.

"So, are you going to be alright?" Jeanette asked Ether as they walked to Jeanette's locker, curiously, Ether's locker was right next to Brittany's locker who's was right next to Jeanette's. So they could easily accompany each other.

"Yea, I think so. I wish we could stay together though, you seem really nice," Ether replied nicely as she opened her locker and retrieved a couple supplies.

"Thanks, you too. Well maybe we can, what's your next class?" Jeanette asked her as she also withdrew a couple supplies from her locker and closed it.

Ether pulled out her schedule and took a look at it

"For second period I have Nature." Ether said as she put the schedule paper back in her backpack pocket.

"That's my next class too! In fact, I share that class with my friend Simon." Jeanette told Ether happily.

"Cool!" Ether replied as they began walking the the other side of the school, where their class was.

"Yea, Simon is real nice, you will like him." Jeanette said as they finally reached the classroom and walked through the doors.

They were apparently a little early as there was only a few students sitting down at their desks.

Jeanette walked straight up to the teacher sitting at her desk, Ether followed her.

"Hey Ms. Teresa, my friend Ether here is new, it's her first day." Jeanette told her teacher, gesturing to Ether's dark furred form.

Ms. Teresa looked Ether over and grinned.

"Another chipmunk huh? That's the second new one today." Ms. Teresa told Jeanette, smiling. But Jeanette just looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"Oh we already got a new chipmunk, he got here just a couple minutes ago. He's sitting over at your table with Simon." she explained, pointing at Jeanette and Simon's usual table they shared.

Jeanette turned around and sure enough, chatting with Simon, was a chipmunk. But he was sitting partially in the shadows so Jeanette couldn't get a good look at him.

She turned back to the teacher. "Well do you think Ether can sit with me and Simon and the other new student?" Jeanette asked politely.

"Yea, of course. You four will all be partnering up for your project OK?" Ms. Teresa told Jeanette as she typed some new information into her computer.

"OK that's fine, thanks." Jeanette said as she turned around.

"Oh wait, Ether what's your last name? I don't have it on record here." Ms. Teresa asked Ether.

"Dream, Ether Dream," she replied kindly to the teacher.

"Thanks," she replied as she turned back to her computer and resumed typing into it.

Jeanette and Ether hopped of her desk and made their way over to where Simon and the new student were sitting.

The Nature room's windows were covered with blankets of different colors and pictures, decorated with animals and forests and oceans on them. It was beautiful but gave the room a constant dark look to it because of the mostly blocked sunlight.

Jeanette and Ether finally made it to their table and hopped up onto it.

"Oh hey Jeanette." Simon said. Looking surprised as she seemingly came from nowhere.

"Hey, Simon, this is my friend Ether, she's going to be working with us." Jeanette told Simon happily.

Simon looked over at the dark furred chipette, he straightened his glasses and held out his paw.

"Hi, my name's Simon," he said kindly to the shy girl.

She slowly took his hand and spoke quietly, "I'm Ether."

She was blushing deeply.

Finally he let her paw go. Then suddenly remembered.

"Oh excuse me I forgot my manners. Jeanette, this is my friend Vayle Haven." Simon told her, gesturing to the chipmunk standing on the table next to him.

This chipmunk had dark fur, almost exactly identical to Ether's color. He was wearing nothing but a dark-gray, zip-up hooded jacket. This made his eyes stand out quite a bit. His right eye was a deep, forest green while his left was a bright, cat-like yellow.

It was a strange sight to see a chipmunk looking like this. But he was a very intriguing looking creature. Jeanette almost didn't want to look away. That is until she finally registered in her mind what Simon had said.

"Vayle? Your name's Vayle?" Jeanette asked the dark furred chipmunk as he stood there, staring back at Jeanette with his strange colored eyes.

He spoke back in a voice that sounded very intelligent. But had lots of worry in it.

"Yes, my name is Vayle. Is there something wrong?" he asked, looking curiously at Jeanette.

Who was staring at him in absolute fear. She glanced back at Ether.

"So you're Ether," she said, pointing at the dark furred chipette. "And you're Vayle." Jeanette finished in a shaky, scared tone.

Simon finally realized what Jeanette meant, and gasped.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Beware readers, for if you wish to continue with this story, you must know a couple things. <strong>_

_**This tale is not for the light-minded, you must be adapt to noticing every detail and your imagination must be one worth praising. **_

_**For this tale will get very hard to understand and visualize unless you've watched movies like Transformers, X-Men, Avatar, and so on.**_

_**I promised you a tale that will blow your mind. And I will deliver.**_

_****Also don't forget to review this, it helps me more than you know.  
><em>

_**Haven to the Dark (BusyLovingChipmunks)**_


	3. New friends

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 3 - New friends**

_Hello fellow readers. As always, make sure you pay attention to detail quite carefully, as it is crucial.  
>Enjoy.<em>

* * *

><p>"What's wrong guys?" Ether asked for the third time as she and Vayle stared at Jeanette and Simon's shocked expressions.<p>

But they weren't listening. The two purple and blue-clad chipmunks were staring at each other in fear.

Finally, Jeanette shook her head.

"No, no, no. I don't believe this. Simon it's just another one of Alvin's tricks." she told Simon as she glanced nervously back at Vayle who was looking more and more confused by the second.

"Um, Jeanette, what are you talking about?" Vayle asked curiously, but with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Yea, is there something wrong with our names?" Ether asked, glancing back and forth between Simon and Jeanette. Looking worried.

Simon turned back to the two dark furred, innocent looking chipmunks staring at him and Jeanette.

"No guys, of course not. Your names are perfectly fine. Me and Jeanette just got mixed up for a moment but it's fine, don't worry about it." he reassured them carefully. Then grabbed Jeanette's shoulder and turned her around.

"Jeanette, I know how you feel about their names but trust me, I've been with Vayle this whole morning and he seems fine. However these two are related to Alvin's questions earlier. They are not aware of it so we just have to play it cool for now and talk to Alvin about it later." Simon whispered to Jeanette.

She looked up into Simon's dark blue eyes and she could tell that he had confidence that he was right. So she trusted him.

"Okay Simon." she replied quietly. Turning around to face Ether and Vayle.

"So, let's just forget that happened. You guys ready to do this?" Jeanette asked, smiling at the two chipmunks.

Ether and Vayle momentarily glanced at each other before smiling back at Jeanette.

"Yea, let's do it!" they both replied happily.

* * *

><p>The four chipmunks had finally left the classroom and arrived at their lockers.<p>

Vayle's locker was right next to Ether's. Jeanette found this very strange because the two chipmunks didn't know each other, but she decided she would sound nosy if she mentioned anything so she kept quiet.

"So what's your guys' next class?" Jeanette asked curiously.

"I got first period lunch." Ether replied, looking at her schedule.

"Yea, me too." Vayle pointed out.

Simon closed his locker an walked over to the other three.

"That's cool, we can all go to lunch together. Me and Jeanette have lunch right now too. In fact, so do our brothers and sisters." Simon told Ether and Vayle as they were busy depositing their items into their lockers beside each other.

"You guys have brothers and sisters?" Ether asked, glancing at Jeanette.

"Yea, I have two sisters and Simon has two-" Jeanette started to say but cut herself off, remembering something.

"Wait, are you telling me you guys have no idea who we are?" she asked in surprise. Looking back and forth at the two chipmunks.

Vayle spoke up after closing his locker.

"Sure we do, you're Jeanette and Simon. Who else would you be?" he said jokingly.

But he stopped smiling as he saw the way Simon and Jeanette were looking at him and Ether.

They were silent with their mouths wide open.

"Where exactly have you two been for the past four months?" Simon asked incredulously.

Ether and Vayle both looked down at the floor. But Jeanette didn't notice.

"Yea, I mean. Me, Simon and our brothers and sisters, we're the Chipmunks and Chipettes!" Jeanette practically shouted at them. Though she was smiling.

Vayle looked thoroughly confused.

'Well, yea duh. So are me and Ether." he said gesturing to the dark furred chipette next to him.

Simon almost busted out laughing. "No, guys seriously. You haven't heard of us? The Chipmunks and Chipettes are the most famous band in the world right now!" he said, trying to keep his composure.

But Ether and Vayle just shook their heads. Looking dumbstruck.

Jeanette just rolled her eyes and grabbed the two dark furred chipmunk's arms and pulled them around the corner and down the hallway. Simon followed, snickering under his breath.

They finally stopped in front of the lunchroom doors.

Jeanette pointed at the giant poster next to the doors.

_The Chipmunks and Chipettes  
>All For One Concert<br>December 9th  
><em>

This time is was Ether and Vayle's turn for their mouths to drop open as they stared at the poster with six chipmunks posing in front of a fireworks display.

They noticed Jeanette and Simon posing to the left and right of a chipette wearing pink and a chipmunk wearing red. Two more green-clad chipmunks posing beside them.

"Oh come guys you're not serious are you?" Jeanette asked, laughing.

"Yea, my brothers have been a band with the Chipettes for over four months now. Have you two lived in the forest or something?" Simon joked, not realizing what he was saying.

Ether looked down as her eyes went distant, she was silent.

"Well...-" but Vayle was cut off as the eight-minute warning bell for lunch went off over the loud speaker.

"Come on guys we got to go!" Simon told them as he raced to the door, hopping on top of the handle and using his body to turn it downwards, allowing it to swing open for them.

He hopped down as all four of them entered the crowded lunch room. Lunch was close to ending so the line wasn't as long.

The four chipmunks all walked over to the ordering station and hopped on top of the counter. Jeanette got two trays for them all to share.

"I hope that's alright?" she asked politely.

The other three nodded. Everybody finally picked out the meals they wanted and helped each other off the counter. Ether and Vayle would drop one of the trays down while Simon and Jeanette caught them perfectly. The two bespectacled chipmunks would always get things done right when they worked together.

Simon and Jeanette led them to the far end of the lunch room, where their usual table was.

Simon sighed in relief as he spotted their table, the rest of the chipmunks were there, including Alvin and Brittany, which almost never happened. Since Alvin was usually hanging out with his football buddies and Brittany was chatting with some of her stuck-up friends.

They finally made it to the table. "Hey Alvin." Jeanette said as she helped Simon with the trays.

Alvin turned around laughing, apparently Theodore had just made a joke about how Eleanor can stuff an entire biscuit in her mouth.

"Oh hey guys, what took you so long?" Alvin asked, watching Simon and Jeanette set the second tray down.

Then Ether and Vayle hopped onto the table.

"Oh, we were just helping out our new friends here." Jeanette told Alvin, while glancing at Eleanor. She had stopped laughing and her and Theodore had gotten up and walked to where everybody else stood.

"Wow! I didn't think we'd get any more chipmunks here." Alvin said in surprise.

"Yea me neither." Simon said as he looked at Vayle. Who was staring at Alvin for some reason. But he noticed Simon watching so he quickly looked away.

"So anyway. Hey, my name's Alvin," he said as he held out his hand to the female, dark-furred chipette.

"I'm Ether," she said kindly, taking Alvin's hand.

Alvin didn't put much thought into her name, as he was distracted by her stunning eyes. One violet, one ocean-blue.

_Wow, she's amazing._ Alvin thought to himself as he continued staring at her.

Finally, Ether blushed and looked away.

"Well, uh, nice to meet you," she said quietly.

Alvin finally snapped out of his trance, and shook his head.  
>"Yea, you too, Ether." he spoke quickly, turning to the other dark furred chipmunk, next to Jeanette.<p>

Vayle reached for Alvin's outstretched hand, "Hi, I'm Vayle."

But Alvin's arm dropped to his side.

The table went dead silent.

"What did you say?" Eleanor asked Vayle, her face expressionless.

"Oh not this again! What's wrong with our names?" Vayle shouted at them.

"Nothing's wrong with your names Vayle." Jeanette spoke up, then turned to Alvin.

'Alvin, Eleanor. Cut this out! The jokes over already okay?" she said, glaring at Alvin and Eleanor while they stood there, speechless.

But Alvin snapped out of it and looked at Jeanette.

"What are you talking about? What joke do you think we are pulling Jeanette?" Alvin asked angrily.

Simon stepped in, seeing enough of Alvin's rudeness to Jeanette.

"Alvin, whatever you wanted to know about the Ether Veil earlier this morning has nothing to do with these two okay?" Simon told Alvin, sounding annoyed.

"Ether Veil, what the heck are you talking about?" Vayle asked with a confused expression on his face.

Now Alvin was mad. He turned to Simon.

"You know what? I think it's you guys who are pulling some kind of stupid joke right now! You thought that just because I was all spooked out over something that you'd think that's the perfect opportunity to freak me out huh? Well it's messed up and I'm not dealing with it right now!" Alvin stomped off the table and ran out of the the lunch room.

Eleanor glanced at her siblings and friends then turned to Ether and Vayle.

"It was nice to meet you guys," she said quietly then hopped off the table and followed Alvin out the lunchroom.

Everybody stared at the door that Alvin and Eleanor had just exited through.

"Is everything okay with them?" Ether asked Jeanette, sounding very worried.

Jeanette turned to Ether and smiled.

'Yea of course, they're fine. They're just a little spooked over something. Let's just not worry about it right now," she told her as she walked over to the food trays and sat down.

"Yea good idea guys, let's just eat right now." Simon said, joining Jeanette." Everybody else joined them and began eating. Brittany and Theodore introduced themselves. Then they all answered Ether and Vayle's multiple questions as they happily ate their lunch.

* * *

><p>"Alvin wait up!" Eleanor said as she finally caught up to him.<p>

They were off school campus, Alvin had run all the way to the nearby park and to one of their favorite shaded tree spots.

He turned around and was surprised to find that Eleanor had followed him all the way there.

"Hey Ellie," he said quietly as he sat down in the soft grass under the tree.

She stood and watched as Alvin silently plucked a single blade of grass and crushed it in his paw.

"Alvin are you alright?" Eleanor asked, concerned as she sat down next to him.

Alvin sighed and dropped the crumbled blade of grass and plucked a new one.

"No Ellie, I guess I'm not," he said, looking down at the tiny blade of grass, fluttering softly in his paw.

"Alvin don't worry about it," she told Alvin firmly. Barely catching his attention though.

"Alvin, Simon and Jeanette were just pulling a joke on us. Don;t let it get to you." Eleanor looked into Alvin's eyes as he slowly curled his fingers around the blade of grass.

"Yea I suppose, but where did they find those two weird chipmunks. I mean, their fur was black! What's up with that?" Alvin asked in surprise, now taking note of the Ether and Vayle's appearance.

Now that Eleanor thought about it, it was pretty strange that two chipmunks could both have such a fur color, and eye color. And where did they come from? How did Simon and Jeanette get these two chipmunks to come to school just to pull a little spook on her and Alvin.

Maybe it wasn't a prank that Simon an Jeanette pulled on them.

And that's when Eleanor suddenly remembered something from her dream. Something that chilled her to the bone.

"Alvin," she spoke quietly.

"Yea what's up?" he asked curiously at Eleanor's sudden, quiet tone.

She turned to him, her eyes filled with fear.

"In the dream last night, do you remember the last thing that owl said to us before we woke up?"

Alvin thought back to the nightmare, and suddenly remembered...

_"All will be very clear soon enough, for now. Prepare yourselves. Ether and Vayle have arrived, tomorrow will be quite something to behold. And we will meet again."_

Suddenly, Alvin gasped. Realizing what Eleanor meant.

"You think that what he said..." Alvin's voice trailed off as he realized what he was thinking must be true.

The two chipmunks sat in silence under the tree. The soft breeze blowing against their soft fur and making it flutter slightly.

"What do we do?" Eleanor finally asked. Almost afraid of Alvin's answer.

"We should talk to them." Alvin spoke quietly as he thought about how that conversation might go.

Eleanor looked at him like he was crazy.

"No I don't mean go walking up and telling them what we think. I mean hang out with them, find out if they even know anything about it. I mean come on Eleanor, whether we think what we heard is true or not...it is still just a dream, for all we know it could just be us over spooked about nothing." Alvin sighed as he finished. Eleanor was staring at the ground.

Finally she spoke up. Realizing where they were.

"So, I guess we should go back now." Eleanor said to Alvin as she stood up.

"Yea, let's go." Alvin mumbled as Eleanor helped him up. They took a short-cut back to school because they didn't want to miss their next class. It was one all the Chipmunks and Chipettes shared.

* * *

><p>By the time Alvin and Eleanor got back to school, their brothers and sisters were lounging against their lockers chatting, waiting for the next class start. They were accompanied by none other than, Ether and Vayle.<p>

"Oh hey Alvin." Brittany spoke up as she saw him and Eleanor walk up to them.

"Hey guys," he replied nervously. Noticing Vayle folding his arms.

"So, are you guys alright now?" Simon asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alvin looked down at the ground in embarrassment, so Eleanor spoke for them.

"Yea, we're fine now. We realize we were out of line. So, do you think we can all just forget it happened?" Eleanor asked innocently, flashing the group with her cute smile.

And nobody could resist Eleanor when she smiled like that. They actually almost felt bad.

"Oh of course we can Ellie!" Jeanette said happily as she hugged her little sister into her arms.

After that it was hard for anyone to be mad.

"So we cool now Simon?" Alvin asked his brother.

Simon playfully rolled his eyes.

"Yea Alvin, we're cool."

Just then the bell rang. Class was about to start.

"Oh come one guys we got to go!" Brittany exclaimed as she jolted up and grabbed her backpack off the floor.

Everybody else gathered their things and they all ran off down the hallway in the same direction.

"Do you ad Vayle have class with us right now?" Alvin asked Ether who was running right beside him.

"Actually we don't have any classes without you guys!" she replied laughing.

Alvin laughed too. _She really is amazing._

Alvin thought to himself as he looked at her eyes.

Then Alvin glanced over to his other side. Brittany noticed him staring and she smiled back.

_But so is she.__.._ Alvin grinned to himself.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went by relatively quick. Only because the Chipmunks and Chipettes had found two great new friends. They happily chatted an got to know each other throughout the rest of their classes, which they all shared. Ether and Vayle were still pretty surprised at the fact that the Chipmunks and Chipettes were world-famous rock stars. But Alvin told them to just forget about it every time Ether mentioned it.<br>He was actually enjoying the fact that he could hang out with somebody who wasn't constantly staring at him in awe or bugging him for an autograph.

School had just now let out. All eight chipmunks walked together down the flight of steps in front of the high school.

They decided to sit on a nearby bench since Dave wasn't there to pick them up from school yet.

"Hey, do you guys want to hang out later? At the park?" Theodore suddenly asked everybody.

The park was one of Theodore and Eleanor's favorite places to go.

"Yea that sounds like fun!" Ether replied, smiling.

The group spent the next couple minutes talking about various things to do at the park.

Finally Dave drove up in his black _sedan_, and honked the horn.

"Dave's here, come on guys let's go." Simon said, standing up.

"Alright 5:30 right?" Vayle asked Theodore as he stood up.

Theodore nodded excitedly.

The Chipmunks and Chipettes hopped off the bench and made their way to the car.

"Bye guys!" Ether shouted as she waved.

"See you later!" Alvin replied.

Dave opened the back door for them and they all hopped into the car.

They waved one last time at Ether and Vayle as Dave started the car and began to drive off.

"So how was school today guys?" Dave asked the six chipmunks sitting in the back seat.

"Oh it was fun Dave! We met two new chipmunks today, they're really nice!" Jeanette told Dave happily.

Dave looked surprised hearing this. "What were their names?" he asked curiously.

"One was a girl and one was a boy. Ether and Vayle" Brittany said.

Alvin was busy staring out the car window as it pulled out of the parking lot. He was watching the tiny black forms of the two chipmunks still sitting on the bench.

His eyes followed them as they both hopped off the bench and started walking down one of the streets leading to the forest.

"Weird names." Dave replied.

_Yea you bet they are._ Eleanor thought to herself.

* * *

><p>5:32<p>

"Come on Brittany we're already late now hurry up!" Eleanor yelled through the bathroom door.

"Just hold on I'm almost done!" Brittany shouted back.

Eleanor groaned in annoyance as she stomped away.

"Brittany taking forever still? Simon asked her as she passed him in the hallway.

"Yea, being a makeup queen as always." Eleanor said angrily.

"Well, technically she can't put makeup on because she's a..." Simon tried to tell Eleanor but she already turned the corner.

Theodore suddenly hopped down the stairs.

"Is everybody ready?" he asked excitedly.

"Yea we're just waiting on Brittany." Jeanette told him.

"I'm done!" Brittany said dramatically as she threw open the bathroom door, running her paws through her hair.

"Finally!" Everybody yelled.

"Whatever, let's just go." Brittany said, ignoring their angry looks.

"Alright guys you leaving now?" Dave asked as he turned the corner.

'Yea Dave." Simon said as he jumped onto the doorknob of the the front door.

"Alright, make sure you get enough water. And be back by nine, alright Alvin?" Dave directed the last part to the red-clad chipmunk walking out the door.

"Got it Dave!" Alvin said as he pulled the door closed.

Dave sighed. Happy to actually have some time to relax.

But he was still worried about his chipmunks...

"Alright guys we got to hurry!" Theodore exclaimed as they shut the door.

They were already about eight minutes late. So they all took off running on all fours.

After a couple minutes they finally made it to the park.

It was relatively empty. Usually the parking lot would be full of cars and the many fields of grass and sidewalks would be filled with people and children.

But not today. They could only spot a couple people sitting on benches in the distance. And the multiple food vendors of ice-cream and beverages of course were humming quietly nearby the bathroom stalls.

'Hey guys!" The Chipmunks and Chipettes heard someone call.

They turned their heads to do see Ether and Vayle sitting under a tree about forty feet away.

They made their way over to the tree and greeted their friends.

"So what do you guys wanna do?" Ether asked excitedly.

They all decided on tree tag to be their first game.

Since all chipmunks were extremely skilled and agile climbers. This made for a very fun game.

The eight chipmunks happily played and laughed, in total peace.

They had no idea what was to soon come upon them.

* * *

><p><em>"It is time." A dark, forbidding voice spoke over the deafening silence.<em>

_"I know." A second dark figure replied in a tone that would frighten even the biggest man or the most viscous tiger._

_'You know they don't deserve this. None of them," the second figure spoke again._

_"I am very aware of that. But Fate, cannot be ignored," the other figure spoke sadly._

_The second figure moved suddenly. Walking over to the window in the dark room. He stared out of it. Examining the fiery, bleeding lands of Dreamhaven._

_ "This world is falling apart." He spoke quietly._

_"All of them are. That's why this must be done," the other figure replied._

_"Eight innocent chipmunks facing the demons of Hell. They are merely fifteen years of age. It's not fair."  
><em>

_"There is nothing we can do," the other figure said as he walked over to the window and slung his long, black wing over his friend._

_The second figure slowly turned his head and looked upwards, his dark black eyes staring into the dark pink eyes of his friend._

_A single tear left his dark black eyes and trailed down the owl's face. _

_"I will go now." He told his friend sadly._

_"Peace be with you my friend." The other figure spoke quietly as he lifted his wing and walked back into the shadows._

_The owl turned from the window and raised his wings. Shadowy flames encasing him. Suddenly with a silent 'whoosh', the flames disappeared and he was thrust into another dimension._

* * *

><p>The eight chipmunks were sitting on the bottom of the tree, panting heavily from their game.<p>

"Who's thirsty?" Theodore asked as finally got up.

Everybody raised their hand.

Theodore retrieved the money Dave had given them for drinks.

"Alright I'll go get us some," he said happily as he started walking over to the vendors across the park.

"I'll go with you Theo!" Eleanor said happily as she hopped up and ran to his side.

"Thanks Ellie," he replied happily.

The two green-clad chipmunks walked together across the fields of grass until they finally reached the drink vendors.

Theodore and Eleanor carefully examined the selections.

"Let's just get everybody some soda." Eleanor suggested.

"Yea, everybody loves soda." Theodore laughed as he pulled out a ten-dollar bill and carefully climbed up to the money slot and inserted it.

A minute later the two chipmunks had eight soda cans on the ground. But they encountered a problem.

They couldn't carry all the sodas on their own.

They looked around. Trying to spot a person who could help them.

They didn't see anybody. The park was now empty.

Suddenly, Eleanor spotted something, a ripped cardboard box in the trash.

"Theodore we can use this." Eleanor told him as she hopped onto the trash can and retrieved the slightly ripped box.

"Good idea Ellie!" Theodore said as he helped her load the eight soda cans into the box.

The two chipmunks then carefully pushed the now heavy cardboard box across the field of grass. It took a few minutes but they finally made it to the tree that their friends and family was still sitting under.

Everybody got up and walked over to Theodore and Eleanor, who had collapsed on top of each other. Tired from the box pushing.

"Thanks guys." Brittany said as she retrieved a can of soda for herself.

Simon and Ether helped the two small chipmunks onto their feet.

The group sat down next to the box and all happily guzzled their sodas down.

They were peacefully relaxing in silence as they all watched the sun go down below the horizon.

"Guys we should probably head back soon." Simon suggested.

"Yea, what about you guys?" Jeanette said, directing the question towards Ether and Vayle.

"What?" Vayle asked curiously.

"When do you guys have to be home?" Jeanette asked.

"Come to think of it, where do you guys live?" Alvin asked them.

Ether and Vayle went silent.

"Well?" Alvin said, getting impatient.

"Uh...-" Ether started to say but she was cut off.

Suddenly the group heard a screech. Their heads darted up in fear.

They saw nothing.

"S-Simon... what are the chances of an eagle living in this area?" Theodore asked fearfully.

Simon gulped. "I'd say about a twenty percent chance," he replied. His voice tainted with fear.

But it was not an _eagle attack_ that the chipmunks should be worrying about... something much worse.

Suddenly, four dark figures flew down upon the group of chipmunks.

They screamed in terror as they were snatched up and yanked up into the sky.

* * *

><p><em>Next chapter will be most interesting indeed. As you will discover everything.<br>Their ride will soon begin.  
><em>

**-Haven to the Dark (BusyLovingChipmunks)**


	4. Fate Has Called

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 4 - Fate Has Called**

**_A keen sense of understanding and a sharp, watchful eye will be all that can help you with this chapter. Enjoy._  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>. . .<strong>

_The sun was just barely going down below the treeline of the shadowy forest.  
><em>

_All was quiet except for the soft hoot of an owl preparing to take off into the night in search of food._

_All the small creatures were scurrying around rapidly, collecting their last food pickings for the night._

_A certain rabbit was scurrying a little too quickly until he smacked right into someone, knocking her tiny body to the ground._

_"Ouch!" the female chipmunk cried as she landed hard on the forest floor._

_"Oh sorry miss Dream, I didn't mean to!" The rabbit shouted as he kept running through the forest, not bothering to stop and help her._

_"How rude," she said to herself in annoyance.  
><em>

_She began walking in circles, collecting the few seeds she had dropped upon being knocked over._

_She finally retrieved them all. Satisfied, she continued walking through the shadowy forest._

_The small chipmunk finally reached a familiar tree and stopped in front of it._

_She carefully shifted the seeds into one arm and placed the other arm on the tree, latching her claws into the rough bark._

_Then, with perfect agility and precision, she swiftly climbed up the tall tree, until she finally reached the top._

_There was a medium-sized opening in the tree, a hollow._

_She carefully hopped inside it and landed on the hollow floor quietly, careful not to startle the occupants inside._

_Tied to the wall of the small hollow was a small branch with special leaves wrapped around it. It burned smoothly. Warming the hollow slightly and basking it with a dim, orange light._

_The light shone upon the female chipmunk's auburn-brown fur. Brightening her light-hazel eyes._

_She quietly tip-toed over to the other side of the small hollow, where a large bundle of leaves was sitting._

_She peered inside, staring lovingly at the tiny forms of two dark furred baby chipmunks, sleeping peacefully in the cozy leaf bed._

_"My babies, it's time to wake up," she spoke softly to them._

_They stirred quietly in the leaves. The baby female peeked her tiny eyes open and noticing the female chipmunk watching them._

_"Hi mama," the baby female spoke tiredly._

_The mother set down the seeds she was holding and reached down, picking up the tiny female chipmunk._

_"Ether my baby, are you hungry?" The mother asked the tiny chipmunk cuddled in her arms._

_The mother stared deep into the baby's beautiful violet and blue eyes. Ether nodded her tiny head happily._

_"Good, now go wake up Vayle, you both need to eat," the mother told Ether as she set her back down in the leaf bed._

_Ether smiled and walked over to the other chipmunk still sleeping and shook him awake._

_"Come on Vayle, mom brought dinner but you have to get up," she told him excitedly._

_Vayle's eyes popped open when he heard 'dinner'._

_He jolted up and leaped out of the leaf bed, landing in the arms of the female chipmunk watching them._

_"Hi auntie Lyla." Vayle said to her as he hugged his tiny arms around her._

_"Good evening Vayle," she replied softly as she returned the hug._

_"What's for dinner?" he asked curiously._

_"Oh I got something good this time." Lyla said as she carefully set Vayle down next to Ether._

_She reached down and picked up a couple of the seeds and showed them to the two baby chipmunks._

_Their eyes went wide as they realized what they were._

_"Butter seeds!" the two chipmunks cried as they eagerly snatched them from Lyla's paws._

_They cracked open the seeds with their teeth and savored the taste of the juicy inside._

_Buttery and sweet. Lyla picked these seeds because she knew they were Ether an Vayle's favorite._

_She picked up one of her own and ate it happily. _

_They finished their dinner after a couple of minutes and now it was time to sleep for the night._

_"Oh come on!" the two chipmunks complained after Lyla told them it was bedtime._

_"I'll read you a bedtime story," she suggested, knowing what their responses would be._

_"Yay!" they both squealed. Lyla grinned._

_Ether and Vayle eagerly laid down into the leaf bed._

_Lyla was about to begin her story when suddenly she heard something. Something familiar._

_It was a screech-like sound. She just barely caught it in the distance of the forest._

_Her heart dropped in fear. "No, not now." she spoke quietly.  
><em>

_Suddenly, something landed on the hollow entrance. It was a Spotted Owl._

_His dark black eyes locked with Lyla's._

_"They're here." The owl spoke._

_Lyla gulped, knowing exactly what the owl meant._

_"Why now?' she asked desperately._

_"I'm sorry, but you must." The owl told her, ignoring her question._

_She nodded, and turned around, facing the two baby chipmunks still laying down in the soft leaf bed._

_"Come now little ones. We must leave," she told them as she reached down and picked them both up out of the bed._

_"But mommy why? What's happening?" Ether asked, confused as her mother took her and Vayle to the hollow exit._

_She stopped in front of the owl as he extended one of his brown, spotted wings over her tiny body._

_She felt a warmth pass through her, her brown eyes momentarily flashed a bright orange. Then they died back down to their beautiful hazel._

_The two chipmunks in her arms cowered in fear at the large owl's wing as it hung over them._

_The owl finally retracted his wing and spoke to them._

_"Goodbye Lyla." he said quietly, his black eyes staring deep into her hazel ones. She nodded._

_He then turned to Ether and Vayle._

_"Goodbye little ones, until next time." And with those final words, the owl dropped from the hollow and swooped away into the darkness._

_Ether and Vayle looked up slowly at Lyla, who was staring into the dark forest. Her ears twitching._

_"Aunt Lyla, who was that?" Vayle asked slowly._

_She suddenly shook her head and climbed onto the edge of the hollow, looking down at the long drop to the bottom._

_"No time to explain Vayle, you will find out when needed. Now climb on my back," she told Vayle, looking him in his yellow and green eyes._

_Vayle nodded and carefully climbed onto her back and tightly latched on._

_"Hold on Ether." Lyla told her daughter as she reached to the side of the tree, retrieving a hidden vine. It led to the bottom of the tree._

_Ether tightened her grip on her mother's arm._

_Suddenly, Lyla took a Leap of Faith. Propelling herself down into the dark forest, flying at the ground at a frightening speed._

_Ether and Vayle screamed at the velocity at which they were dropping from the tall tree._

_But Lyla's paw suddenly gripped tightly onto the vine, and they quickly slowed and came to a perfect stop, her feet landing gently on the forest floor._

_Down here it was slightly more lit, the moonlight just barely showing through the branches and illuminating sections of the forest floor._

_Lyla carefully set the two tiny chipmunks down on the ground._

_Suddenly, a scream pierced the silence. Ether and Vayle yelled in fright and hid behind their mother's tail._

_She instinctively stuck out an arm in front of them. Her hazel eyes examining the dim-lit forest before them._

_Nothing moved, not a single leaf, not a single wisp of air. All was still._

_'CRASH!'_

_A dark figure burst from the leaves and smacked head on into Lyla, hurling her body backwards._

_She didn't scream, she couldn't, instead, she reacted._

_The creature rose to it's feet, it had landed right beside Lyla's tiny body. It was at least ten times her size._

_Completely black and scales covering it's entire body, it was dark and slimy. A strange mixture of a baby dragon and a lizard._

_Suddenly, Lyla pushed herself off the ground with impossible speed, she flipped through the air and landed on the creature's neck._

_She wrapped her arms around it and with unrealistic strength, she jerked her arms backward._

_Snapping the creature's neck, it's dark yellow eyes lolled upwards into it's head as it's lifeless body crashed to the ground._

_Ether and Vayle saw the entire thing. They were in shock at what they just watched Lyla do._

_"M-Mom, h-h-how did you do that?" Ether asked shakily._

_Lyla leaped off the dead creature and quickly walked over to the two chipmunks standing there in shock. She reached down and wrapped her arms around them._

_"Don't worry guys, I knew this day would come. Now you have to listen to me carefully." Lyla spoke to them seriously, looking into each of their eyes. _

_Ether and Vayle nodded nervously._

_"I need you two to do something for me, these things, they are coming after you. I want you to run, and don't stop, for anything. Do you understand me?" Lyla asked them as she stared into their fearful eyes._

_"NO! Mom we are not leaving you!" Ether cried as she realized what her mother was telling them to do._

_"Ether, I know, I'm sorry, I truly am, but you must. If you don't, you will die." she told them as she turned her head around, checking the still trees for any signs of movement._

_"Aunt Lyla what is going on? What is that thing and why are they after us?" Vayle asked, tears forming in his yellow and green eyes._

_But Lyla didn't have time to answer. Another of the lizard-like creatures smashed through the leaves and landed before them with a 'crash'._

_Ether and Vayle screamed. Lyla stepped in front of them. _

_She locked eyes with the creature, it screeched. A cry that was ear-piercing._

_It then suddenly lunged at Lyla, but she was small, and quick. She spun on her foot and delivered a swift kick to it's underbelly. Sending it's giant body back ten feet._

_It began to slowly rise, angrier than before. But Lyla was also pissed._

_She slowly walked to the creature, her furry arms suddenly ignited as her eyes burned a bright orange._

_But the creature was not intimated by the tiny, now flaming armed chipmunk._

_It screeched again and lunged at her with it's large jaws. _

_But she was quick to act, she slammed a fist into the creatures throat, it reeled back in agony, coughing up a dark blue blood._

_She took her chance as the creatures mouth was wide open._

_She lunged for it, her arm pulled back, she landed on it's jaw and she focused her body's energy to her ignited paw, the flame grew until it was a large ball of fire. _

_Lyla suddenly thrust her flaming paw into the creature's mouth, hurtling the ball of flame deep into his throat. She swiftly launched herself off the creature a good fifteen feet away._

_Ether and Vayle watched in awe as the creature screamed in pain, it was convulsing, it's dragon-like head thrashing back and forth as the flames burned it from the inside. _

_Slowly, the creature's body, ignited from the inside out. It burned and burned until the gut-wrenching screams died away._

_After a few seconds, all that was left of the creature was a large pile of smoldering ashes._

_A small victory though. Because just as Lyla's eyes died back to their normal hazel, a third figure appeared._

_It crashed through the trees and rammed Lyla's tiny body to the ground, smashing her flat in front of Ether and Vayle._

_The two chipmunks looked upon Lyla's still form in terror. But their eyes found something else as a fear-spawning growl sounded from the creature behind Lyla._

_Ether and Vayle slowly looked up at the giant thing. It was a shocking sight, a twelve foot tall demon looking creature towered over the chipmunks. It's dark, leathery wings flexed threateningly._

_But Lyla wasn't finished yet. She pushed herself off the ground, groaning in pain from the impact._

_"Ether, Vayle, you must run, please. Go." Lyla pleaded with them as she stared into their eyes._

_Ether and Vayle just stood, rooted to the spot in silence as they stared at Lyla's damaged, chipmunk body._

_"You must go now! You are the key to-" but Lyla was cut off as the massive clawed foot of the demon looking creature slammed onto her body, pinning her to the ground._

_Ether screamed, "MOM NO!"_

_The creature looked down at Ether and stared into her eyes, and spoke in a dark growl._

_"Ether, do not worry, all will be over soon."_

_But Lyla did not give up, she rose her head and looked at the two chipmunks still standing,_

_"Ether, Vayle, I SAID RUN!" Lyla screamed at them with all the breath she could muster._

_This finally got their attention. Lyla had never yelled at them before._

_"Vayle, do you think your parents died for nothing? This is what it was for! If you die here their deaths are for nothing. Now take your cousin, AND RUN!" _

_Vayle stared into his aunt's eyes for the last time. He nodded, and grabbed Ether's arm._

_"Come on Ether, we have to go." Vayle told her softly as he pulled her away._

_Ether stared into her mother's eyes, tears spilling out of both of theirs._

_"I don't think so," the creature suddenly spoke. _

_It raised a clawed hand, red pores of energy appearing from his hand, aimed directly at the two helpless baby chipmunks._

_That is when the anger of a mother becomes the highest, when the lives of her loved ones are threatened. _

_Lyla's eyes glowed a bright orange. Her entire body ignited into flames._

_The creature screamed in pain as his scaled foot was burnt terribly. He lifted it off of Lyla, but he did not stop his attack on Ether and Vayle._

_She acted quickly, She turned to Ether and Vayle, "RUN!" she shouted one last time, then rose her arms and swiftly brought them down onto the ground. _

_A colossal wall of fire erupted from the ground and rose fifty feet into the air. _

_Ether and Vayle watched in horror. The wall of fire covering their view. _

_They turned and ran into the dark forest, tears streaming from their eyes. _

_They never saw Lyla again..._

_. . .  
><em>

* * *

><p>. . .<p>

The group was right to assume eagles.

But it was not an eagle _attack_ that was happening.

They were being _taken._

The eight chipmunks screamed in terror as the four giant eagles brought them higher and higher into the sky.

Each eagle held two screaming chipmunks. Their tiny bodies clamped securely in each talon.

They were finally so high up that the chipmunks couldn't see the ground anymore. All that their eyes saw was the white of clouds.

They were in the stratosphere. The chipmunks soon felt their oxygen supply running low. They couldn't breath in the high altitudes.

And right when they thought the eagles were trying to suffocate them, they arced their wings inward and propelled their bodies down to Earth.

The chipmunk's cries of terror were drowned out by the ear-splitting scream of the wind rushing past them.

They were diving to the ground at five-hundred feet a second. A speed that normally would have ripped a chipmunk's body to shreds merely because of the shredding winds that was pelting their bodies.

But these eight were unharmed. Scared out of their minds nevertheless.

Finally, they closed in on the ground, they almost sighed in relief... until they realized the eagles were not slowing down.

They all screamed. They were about to become 'groundkill'.

But just as the eagles were almost ten feet from the ground, their large wings flashed open.

And their dive abruptly halted, they zoomed straight ahead. Gliding softly across the earth.

The chipmunks were low enough to touch the field of grass they were gliding above.

Alvin was about to reach out and touch the ground but he was stopped.

The eagles abruptly flashed their wings sideways, switching them to brakes. Stopping their velocity and bringing them and the group to a slow halt.

Their talons suddenly let go of the eight chipmunks they were clamped upon.

The chipmunks landed softly on the beautiful field of green grass.

They were in a clearing, about a hundred yards around. The field abruptly ended as a line of trees started.

The group of eight slowly picked themselves up off the ground. They were each shaking uncontrollably.

Especially Eleanor, Jeanette, and Vayle.

Quite apparent that heights was not their most favorite thing in the world.

"You guys alright?" Alvin asked everybody.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Vayle complained, holding his stomach. Eleanor and Jeanette nodded.

"What, happened?" Brittany asked shakily.

"Oh the usual, snatched up by eagles, flew up forty thousand feet. Then dropped back down faster than the speed of sound. Then set down like nothing happened." Simon explained. Sarcasm tainted in his voice.

"Speaking of eagles..." Ether spoke up, but she stopped as she turned around and noticed the four, three-foot tall birds towering above the group of chipmunks.

Ether gulped as she backed up slowly. "Hi," she squeaked out quietly. Noticing the scariest feature about the large birds. Their eyes, were the color of a Dyre Wolf.

_Whoa, no way this is happening._ Jeanette thought to herself in awe.

The eagle's glowing bright green eyes focused on Ether's tiny, dark-furred form. And they took a step closer to her.

Ether screamed as she tumbled backwards. Tripping over herself and landing on her tail.

Then right when she thought they were going to kill her, they did the last thing anybody expected... they bowed.

Each one simultaneously stretched their long wings out, and bent their bodies downward, their dark orange beaks almost touching the ground.

The chipmunks were speechless. They couldn't think of anything to say as the eagles stayed that way, completely still as they continued bowing to the chipmunks.

Finally, the four eagles rose back to their standing positions and retracted their wings back.

Then, they separated, leaving a gap in the middle of them.

The chipmunks gasped as they spotted a shadowed figure walk between the four eagles. And as it passed in front of the large birds. It's form was lit enough for the chipmunks to make out what it was.

Alvin, Eleanor, Ether, and Vayle, all gasped. Recognizing the Spotted Owl.

* * *

><p><em>"She fought bravely," the owl spoke quietly as he choked back tears.<em>

_"You bound her with Flame essence?" the dark figure asked curiously._

_"It was all I could do to try to protect them, I had no idea she would need to sacrifice herself." _

_The dark figure walked into the light where his friend was standing, almost weeping from sorrow._

_"Do not treat yourself like this, it is not your fault. Lyla knew that she might have to someday, to protect them. Just as her husband did, and thousands before them." the creature spoke to his friend as tears continued to form in his eyes._

_"Don't say that. She is dead, he murdered her. I loved her and I let this happen, she was my greatest friend on Earth. Gone now." The owl finally let tears spill as he let out a sob._

_ His friend took note of that last statement. And he suddenly grabbed the owl's shoulders with his long black wings and looked him in his dark black eyes._

_"No. She is not gone, her daughter, Ether, and her nephew, Vayle. They live. She died for them and now they live. Safe from harm right now. She is not gone, her spirit lives in them!"_

_The owl just stared blankly into his friends eyes._

_"Remember what their future may become. Remember why their generation has been guarded by us all these decades, for them. The War of the Dark is growing every day, and the Ether Veil is finally being targeted, and you know what will happen if it is damaged. You. Must. Protect. The Children. Everything depends on the lives of those two baby chipmunks on Earth. And now, in Lyla's death. You are the one to watch over them, until Fate calls." The creature finally finished. His dark pink eyes staring into the black eyes of his friend. They were no longer distant and blank. But filled with understanding._

_The owl slowly pulled away and walked a few steps away from his friend._

_"Until Fate calls."_

* * *

><p>"You again!" Alvin suddenly yelled at the owl, pointing a finger at him.<p>

The owl merely blinked and stared at Alvin. Completely expressionless.

"You brought us here didn't you? I bet we're in some kind of stupid dream again!" Alvin shouted in anger as he grabbed his ears in frustration and pulled them as hard as he could, trying to wake himself up.

But did not succeed, Eleanor suddenly grabbed Alvin's arms and pushed him.

"Alvin stop it! You're not helping!" she shouted at him. He looked away angrily.

Eleanor turned towards the owl standing a couple feet away, watching them blankly.

"What's going on here? Why are we in this dream again?" Eleanor demanded.

The owl's dark black eyes slowly looked over the group of chipmunks, examining each of them carefully, before finally stopping on Ether and Vayle. Then he looked back to Eleanor.

"You are not dreaming Eleanor." The owl spoke, sounding almost happy. The last tone any of the group expected to hear from the strange owl.

"In fact, you couldn't be more awake," he added, his dark, curved beak cracking a small grin.

Alvin rolled his eyes. "What do you mean awake? This is obviously some stupid realistic dream again! Just. Gotta. Wake. Up." Alvin grunted through breaths as he continuously punched himself in his shoulder, painfully.

"Alvin, if beating yourself up is your goal, then let Brittany do it. By the way she's looking at you, I'm sure she'll enjoy it," the owl chuckled slightly.

Alvin turned around only to see Brittany glaring at him darkly. Alvin laughed nervously as he stopped hitting himself. And turned back around to the owl. Who was grinning now.

"I apologize for the ride here, the eagles seemed to assume that you would enjoy it. Please do not be angry with them, they have a great sense of humor sometimes." The owl laughed as he glanced at the large eagles standing beside him. They simply nodded their dark brown heads.

Not a single chipmunk laughed at this. Vayle was still holding his stomach.

"What exactly do you want with us?" Jeanette finally spoke up.

The owl turned his head and looked at the chipette with purple glasses.

"You are here because Fate has called upon you six. To guard the most important thing in existence. I am the one to bring you this news."

The group was silent. They said nothing so the owl continued.

"The Ether Veil, the thing that weaves a secure gate around all the dimensions, it is what separates them. The Veil controls all that is, and all that is not." The owl carefully explained, watching each of them.

Alvin gulped at the last part, remembering his nightmare.

"There are three dimensions linked directly with Earth. Heaven, Hell, and Dreamhaven." The owl stopped as he looked to the chipmunks.

"Dreamhaven?" Brittany asked curiously.

"Dreamhaven is the dimension of Dreams, it is the most important dimension of the living. For without the world of Dreams, nothing would exist. It is the place you go to every time you sleep, it is the place you seek every time you are lost in your unconscious mind's abyss. It is the Haven that leads you to everything. And it is dying." The owl finished with sadness in his eyes.

Simon finally got the courage to speak.

"What do you mean by that? Why is this Dreamhaven world dying?" He asked, concerned.

The owl let several moments of silence go on before he finally answered.

"There is a war. One that has been going on for many centuries, between the true beings that live in Dreamhaven. I am one of them. And this war is finally damaging the world of Dreamhaven, and the forces of Evil that me and my allies fight, they have become so desperate to rule Dreamhaven that they have taken to the final resort. One that the rulers of dimensions made an oath never to go to, long ago. To destroy the Ether Veil. There is a place in the world of Dreamhaven, where the gates of the Ether Veil passes through, and they found this, and no matter how hard we fought them off, they have finally damaged the Ether Veil. And Fate decided it was far too unsafe, and the Ether Veil has been put into physical forms, and these forms have been born on Earth. But these physical beings must be guarded at all costs, no matter what. For these forms have the Ether Veil inside them, and if one of them dies. The Veil is broken, and existence will be thrust into a chaos worse than anyone can possibly imagine. You six, the Chipmunks and Chipettes, have been deemed by Fate, the ones worthy to guard the Ether Veil." The owl stopped and stared at the eight chipmunks.

The silence that followed was so intense that the eagles shifted uncomfortably. Their bright green eyes darting between the owl and the chipmunks.

The owl did not want to tell them like this, but there was no getting around it. They were running out of time.

"Guys, I know this may be the strangest news you've ever heard, but no matter how much you think this is all just some dream, I'm sorry but-"

"You're joking right?" Brittany asked, cutting the owl off.

She laughed... loudly.

"I mean come on! You, an owl. Which alone is pretty dang surprising cause owls naturally kill and eat chipmunks like us, you are telling us that you come from a dimension called Dreamhaven right? And that it's dying, blah, blah." Brittany walked over to Ether and Vayle as she continued.

"And that some war has been going on and now finally this 'Ether Veil' has been damaged and put into physical forms here on this planet." Brittany rolled her eyes.

"And I'm not stupid, I've put two and two together, Ether Veil, Ether, Vayle. You're saying that this dimensional gate that keeps existence intact is inside these two?" Brittany said, laughing as she slung her arms around Ether and Vayle. They each blushed bright red at the fact that everybody now stared at them.

"I gotta say it's clever how ya switched around a couple letters in 'Veil' to make this so believable." Brittany giggled as she let go of the two chipmunks she was holding on to.

Silence again. The group of chipmunks, stared at Brittany in shock, then back at the owl. Who was looking at Brittany quite intently, she stared right back at him, waiting for an answer.

"Ah, Brittany, you live up to my expectations. I expected this from you. But you must realize, all that I have told you is true. Fate has chosen you. And the demons of Hell and Dreamhaven know where Ether and Vayle are. And they are coming. You must protect these two chipmunks, no matter what."

Brittany rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"Alright, we have arrived at the kicker, so... demons huh? Six chipmunks have to face demons to protect two other chipmunks. And please tell me, why exactly can't YOU be the one to guard these two, if they're so important, you've supposedly been fighting this war for many years. Why can't you?" Brittany stared straight into his eyes, daringly.

The owl merely chuckled as he took a couple steps towards the pink-clad chipette. She gulped, now seeing how much the owl towered over her.

He raised one of his talons, and reached for Brittany. She screamed, thinking the owl was going to hurt her, but she felt nothing. In fact, his talon did not even touch her, it went _through_ her.

Brittany gasped as she realized this. She looked up at the owl, fear in her eyes.

"Brittany, I am not in corporeal form in this world." The owl told her as he put his talon back on the ground.

"So what, you're a ghost?" Brittany asked, clearly surprised.

"Because of the Ether Veil, my physical essence remains in Dreamhaven, but I have mastered the skill of traveling between dimensions, but merely as a phantom." The owl carefully explained.

"The demons coming after Ether and Vayle are quite physical, and on Earth. So therefore I can do nothing. But you six, guardians. Will have the power to protect them."

But the chipmunks still did not believe the owl.

"I'm sorry, but this is something that we are not doing, I don't know if this is all real or not but me and my brothers, the Chipettes, we aren't getting involved in it. Why should we?" Alvin told the owl as he folded his arms.

"I knew that this might happen, I feared it. And I know what I must do." The owl spoke more quietly as he looked down sadly.

The chipmunks glanced at each other.

"I'm sorry, I do not want to do this, but you leave me with no choice." The owl said, looking up.

The six chipmunks stared at him as he spread his wings wide, then brought them back in quickly. A dark shadow enveloped him, and with a outward thrust of his wings, he sent the shadow rushing towards the six chipmunks, it impacted them. And their minds went blank...

* * *

><p><em>The next thing Eleanor knew, she was flat on her stomach.<em>

_She looked around as she slowly got up, she was standing on a strange field of dead grass. It was uncomfortable and scratchy against her soft, blonde fur._

_She was confused, a moment ago she was standing in a beautiful field of green grass, with her friends and sisters. Now she was alone._

_The sky above was dark, moonless, starless, but light still shone on the dark field of dead grass. Somehow, the air seemed to have it's own sourceless-light._

_Eleanor did not know why, but for some reason, this world was very familiar to her. She somehow had the sudden feeling that in an alternate reality, she had visited this place before._

_She spun around several times, looking for a sign, of anything. There was only dead grass on and on for thousands of miles. _

_Then, she turned her head one more time, and she spotted a forest. It was not there before but now it was._

_It looked frightening, so Eleanor decided to not go to it. But that was until she heard a gut-wrenching scream._

_It came from the forest. "Brittany!" Eleanor yelled as she rushed towards the trees. _

_Her sisters screams of agony continued as Eleanor used all her power to reach the far away forest. Finally, panting, she finally reached the line of trees. Then heard another scream._

_This one came from behind her. "Jeanette?" Eleanor thought as she turned around. _

_She saw nothing, merely the endless grass. Then she heard a roar, an angry roar. _

_But still she saw nothing. Eleanor wanted to cry. Her sisters sounded like they were helpless, and she couldn't get to them._

_Eleanor turned back to the trees... and screamed._

_A giant wolf was standing inches from her. Staring down at her tiny form with it's bright green eyes._

_Eleanor fell to the ground in terror. "Dyre Wolf." She thought to herself fearfully._

_The wolf suddenly growled. His eyes narrowed as he took a step over the chipette cowering on the ground._

_Eleanor closed her eyes in fear as the wolf opened it's large, powerful jaws and clamped them shut onto her._

_...  
><em>Eleanor then realized what she feared most in life.

To be eaten alive.

* * *

><p><em>Jeanette slowly pushed herself off the cold ground.<em>

_She looked around in confusion. Noticing she was in a dark, murky cave._

_There was nobody in it except for her. _

_Jeanette couldn't hear a single sound. All was silent in the dark cave._

_It was eerie and frightening but Jeanette decided she could no longer just stand there._

_She walked straight ahead, further into the dark cave. It was barely lit by random pores of blue light that shone from certain spots on the walls of the cave._

_Jeanette kept walking through the dim light until she finally reached an opening._

_A wide cavern inside the cave. The ceiling reached at least a hundred feet up. Dim pores of blue light were scattered up the walls of the cavern._

_Without hesitation, Jeanette walked straight to the middle of the dark cavern. She stood on the cold rocky floor. Silence screaming into her ears._

_Then, Jeanette began to cry. She had never felt such an immense sadness in her life. _

_There was nobody there, anywhere. This world was empty._

_Jeanette sobbed painfully as she knelt down and cried. Absolute sadness overtaking her._

_..._

Jeanette feared nothing more.

Than to be fully and completely, Alone.

* * *

><p><em>Theodore's eyes carefully scanned his surroundings.<em>

_He was in a graveyard._

_He was by himself and all was quiet._

_Theodore looked upon the hundreds of gravestones that stretched on forever. _

_He slowly began walking, carefully weaving through the graves. Respectful enough to not step on the head-rest area._

_Theodore finally made it to a large tree. He stopped in front of it._

_He suddenly thought he heard a sound, coming from the other side of the large tree. _

_Theodore, fearfully, peeked around the tree an saw Brittany._

_She had tears streaming from her ice-blue eyes._

_"Brittany? Are you alright?" Theodore's voice echoed._

_But Brittany did not answer. She kept crying._

_Theodore slowly walked around the tree. Jeanette and Eleanor were standing beside Brittany._

_"Guys what's wrong?" He asked curiously as they quietly sobbed as they stared at something._

_No on answered him so he walked over to them and followed their stare to the two gravestones they were looking at._

Alvin Seville

Simon Seville

_Theodore's heart dropped in fear as he stared at the two gravestones sitting under the shade of the tree._

_He dropped to his knees._

...

Theodore could not imagine...

Losing his two brothers.

* * *

><p><em>Simon suddenly found himself laying face-first on a forest floor.<em>

_It was rough with fallen dead leaves and twigs._

_Simon slowly rose to his feet, looking around him. He just saw trees go on endlessly._

_He looked up and noticed the large moon in the sky._

_Lighting the forest brightly. _

_Simon felt he should walk forward, so he did._

_He crushed over the leaves and twigs as he blindly walked through the forest. Trying to find anything._

_He finally came upon a clearing, a small one. Only about twenty feet in diameter._

_Simon broke through the tree line and entered the clearing of soft green grass._

_But he noticed something in the middle of the clearing. A dark form of someone lay in the grass._

_Simon slowly walked up to the figure and noticed how damaged it's small body was, bloodied and beaten. It was dead._

_Simon slowly walked over to the other side of the body in fear. _

_And he gasped when he saw it's face, the purple glasses still on her face. Her eyes closed, looking peaceful._

_Simon shakily knelt down and broke down crying._

_..._

The thing Simon feared most in the world.

Was losing his Love, Jeanette.

* * *

><p><em>Brittany slowly peeled her eyes open.<em>

_She was lying on her side. But she was tired and did not want to get up. She tried to close her eyes, but found it too difficult because of the very uncomfortable dead grass she was laying on._

_Finally giving up, she pushed herself up and dusted off her pink skirt._

_She took a look around. And was suddenly confused at the strange sight._

_She was obviously in the middle of a forest. But not a normal forest. _

_Brittany looked up into the dark sky, no moon, no stars._

_But somehow, the forest was still very dimly lit. Like an invisible fog had settled and was trying to illuminate the air._

_Brittany was almost frightened at how familiar this setting felt. Her soul had been here once._

_Then, as she was thinking this. She suddenly spotted a red light._

_As she stared at the tiny beam in the distance. She suddenly screamed, as the ground beneath her... exploded._

_Her tiny form was flung into the air. She flew several feet screaming through the air before she smacked into the trunk of a tree. Cracking it's surface._

_Brittany dropped to the base of the tree in pain._

_She felt as though several of her bones had shattered. Her eyes were covered with tears as she tried to sit up against the tree trunk._

_She was confused and scared. She reached her hands up and rubbed her eyes. Clearing her vision._

_But she wished she hadn't. A large, black scaled demon-like creature suddenly crashed in front of her._

_It's black leathery wings slashed through the air as it roared at the small chipette cowering against the tree._

_It finally stopped thrashing around as it slowly bent down and stared into the eyes of Brittany._

_She stared back in fear at the crimson-red eyes of the angelic-demon looking beast._

_"Do you fear me?" It growled through it's sharp, black teeth._

_Brittany didn't move or say anything. She was too shocked in fear._

_The beast suddenly reached for her. Grasping her from the ground._

_Brittany screamed in terror. Shutting her eyes as she did not want to watch what the monster would do to her._

...

Her fear was one most terrifying.

To be tortured.

* * *

><p><em>Alvin couldn't imagine what was happening.<em>

_A moment ago, he was standing next to Brittany, having an argument with an owl who was telling them they were called to protect existence._

_Now he was standing in the middle of the hallway of the Seville house._

_All was dark and silent. Alvin was frustrated._

_He decided he might as well do something. So he walked forward and rounded the corner. Coming to the living room. He saw nobody there. So he decided he might as well check upstairs._

_He hopped over the the stairs and quickly ran up them. Having to feel his way though because there were no lights on in the house._

_He made it safely to the Chipmunks an Chipette's room they shared._

_The door was closed so as quietly as he could, he hopped onto the doorknob and used his body to turn it and click the door open._

_He pulled on it and it swung open easily. Revealing the dark room._

_Alvin noticed the room looked empty. He couldn't spot any of the Chipettes or his brothers in their beds._

_But Alvin noticed the moonlight was shining through the window onto the middle of the floor._

_He walked over to the light. And stood in it and looked up at the bright moon._

_Suddenly, Alvin heard something. _

_A quiet sniffle. He cocked his heard towards the shadows by Jeanette's bottom bunk. He twitched his ears as he heard it again._

_"I can't believe you Alvin,"_

_Alvin jumped in fright as the soft voice spoke to him. "Brittany?" _

_He asked curiously as he edged towards her crying form curled up next to Jeanette's bed._

_"You let that happen to them, because you didn't care," she spoke quietly, not looking up at Alvin as he slowly walked up to her._

_Alvin looked confused as ever. "What are you talking about Britt?"_

_Brittany suddenly looked up at Alvin. _

_Darkness in her pure, blood-red eyes._

_Alvin rolled his brown eyes. He was expecting something like this, from past experience with Brittany in his dreams. He knew better than to expect the normal._

_Nevertheless it still frightened him. _

_She slowly stood up and walked straight up to Alvin. And stared at him._

_Now Alvin was really creeped out. Her red eyes bored into his as he started trembling. Her eyes were having some type of emotional effect on him. A sad one._

_"I Hate you Alvin." Brittany said with pure hatred in her blood-red pupils. _

_Alvin's heart dropped. He could not bear to hear those words from the girl he loved. It was too much for him to handle._

_"What?" He shakily asked. _

_"Shut up!" Brittany suddenly screamed as she pushed Alvin to the ground with such force that he rolled over himself._

_He slowly tried to push himself up but Brittany was standing right there. Her eyes stared down at him as she laughed. _

_Alvin couldn't take anymore._

...

His worst Fear became clear to him.

He could not live with the fact that Brittany, did not Love him.

* * *

><p>...<p>

The six chipmunks suddenly woke up, screaming.

A link had been made while they dreamed. A link that they shared. They all witnessed each others' dreams. And they all feared them.

"I'm sorry, but it had to be done." The owl spoke to the chipmunks as he walked up to them, now awake, and shaking.

The chipmunks jumped at the sound of someone talking to them.

Alvin's fearful eyes suddenly turned to anger.

'What in the hell was that?" Alvin screamed at the owl as he jolted up.

Ether and Vayle walked over to help Theodore and Eleanor, as they were crying.

"I am sorry, truly. But you were refusing, so I simply gave you a glimpse of what could happen if you do not realize your responsibility.

This shut Alvin up quicker than anyone had ever witnessed.

His eyes suddenly turned to fear again as he realized what the owl meant.

The rest of the group stared at the owl, their eyes filled with terror as they recounted each others' nightmares.

"If the Ether Veil is cut, all existence will fall apart. Dimension will merge and this universe will be sent into a spiraling chaos worse than you could imagine. The things you saw are absolutely nothing compared to what will happen." The owl carefully told them as he had their undivided attention.

After a minute of silence. Alvin finally spoke after he gave the group a look, they slowly nodded.

"We'll do it." He told the owl in a sad tone.

The owl nodded to Alvin and looked back at the other five. "Thank you, for understanding what is at stake."

Then the owl motioned for Ether and Vayle to come to him.

Hesitantly. The two dark-furred chipmunks walked up to the large owl.

"You two, Ether, Vayle. You are the very things that hold everything that exists, together. You must realize this. If you die, we all do. Even the slightest amount of pain induced can cause serious effects on reality.

Jeanette and Ether gasped, remembering the science lab window shattering after Ether jabbed herself on accident. They had totally forgot about it.

"Your parents protected you for many years, until they were finally slaughtered by the demons that hunt you. And I have been the one to watch over you ever since, until Fate shall call upon your new guardians. And so Fate has. This is not your Call of Duty, but your Call of Survival." The owl finished as it stared into the eyes of the two, stunned chipmunks in front of him.

They slowly nodded their heads. The owl nodded back as he walked over to the Chipmunks and Chipettes.

"You, guardians. Will be the ones to face the demons of Dreamhaven and Hell itself. They will hunt down the Ether Veil until it is destroyed. You shall protect it at all costs. And you will now receive the power to do so." The owl finished as he lifted both of his wings. And raised them above the six chipmunk's heads. They stared up at his wings in confusion as the feathers glowed a bright white.

Each chipmunk's eyes suddenly glowed a bright white also. They felt a strange warmth run through their bodies as a new strength coursed through their veins.

"It is done," the owl spoke as he pulled his wings back.

"Um, may I ask what you did to us?" Simon asked curiously.

'In time... you must each discover your abilities yourselves.

"OK... so what now?" Alvin asked sarcastically.

"You will return to your home. I'm sure Dave is quite worried." The owl replied simply.

"And you will take Ether and Vayle with you, they must never leave you again." The owl added with a slight smile.

"What? Dave's going to flip enough when we're late but there's no way he's going to be okay with two new guests!" Brittany frantically explained.

The owl merely chuckled. "He has to, for his life depends on it."

"Now go forth, the eagles will return you. I must be returning as well. For time runs short." The owl finished as black flames began to envelop him.

"Wait!" Alvin started to say but the owl suddenly disappeared in the black flames.

The group turned back to the four eagles still silently standing there.

"Let's do this guys." Brittany said as she walked up to one of the eagles and offered herself to it. The eagle carefully grasped Brittany's body in it's talon. And waited for it's next rider.

The rest of the group nervously glanced at each other and sighed, knowing that they had to.

They screamed in terror the whole way home...

* * *

><p><strong>Note: This chapter may or may not contain references to certain other AATC stories. <strong>

**_The wheels of this ride have been unlocked and the finger is on the button, Ready... Prepare yourself._**

**__**_Brittany, please don't let me know that I made a mistake in doing that to you..._

_**When her being is tortured, her soul will scream, and the Titan will rise from her ashes.  
>But, her Love's anger will be more than He can possibly imagine...<strong>_

_**(BusyLovingChipmunks)**  
><em>


	5. The Fight Begins

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 5 - ****The Fight Begins**

**I will let you all know that I have still not used a beta, and the fact that for half of this chapter, I used nothing but my phone and my index finger to write this. Much harder than it sounds. And I was lacking spell-check so please understand any couple mistakes.**

**I would like to thank Pancakez for helping me with many points in this chapter. =)**

**Keep your vision-based imagination wide. **

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><p>The sun had long but gone down in the beautiful park full of fields of soft green grass.<p>

It was still completely vacant. Most likely due to the fact that it was well past evening.

The four brown-feathered eagles slowly glided across the fields until they reached the tree where they originally picked up the group of chipmunks.

They carefully unlatched their grip on the chipmunks they were holding. Gently dropping their tiny bodies into the soft grass.

They then dropped to the ground and planted their talons firmly into the grass. Watching the chipmunks as they slowly got up, shaken but relieved as their flight was finally over.

They each dusted themselves off as they checked to make sure they were alright. Ether and Vayle checked extra carefully.

They finally looked around to see exactly where they were.

Each chipmunk sighed in relief, recognizing the park. But Brittany and Eleanor's heads suddenly jolted upward, looking toward the sky in fear.

The two chipettes sighed again as they spotted the moon and stars. Quite relieved to see the normal sky was present.

"So what now?" Theodore finally spoke up.

Everybody turned to the four eagles, standing there silently.

The eagles didn't make a single noise. Alvin got a little concerned so he finally spoke.

"What are we supposed to do now?" He asked them with curiosity.

The eagle closest to Alvin took a step forward.

"_Your enemies are close. We can not help you further. The fight begins now."_

Everybody except Eleanor jumped in fright as the eagle's deep, forbidding voice echoed through their minds.

She remembered how the 'scorpion' with pink eyes had spoken to her through her very own thoughts.

It was actually quite comforting to hear such a creature speaking to you in such a way.

But the seven chipmunks were still frightened.

"What do you mean fight? And why can't you help us?" Vayle asked with worry in his voice.

The eagle turned to Vayle and his yellow and green eyes met with the eagle's.

A strange silence followed. Until finally, the eagle looked away and the four birds turned around and took a few steps away from the group, raising their wings.

"Wait! What are we supposed to do?" Alvin shouted after the eagles.

The chipmunks once again heard the echo through their mind.

"_Survive."_

And with that final word. The four eagles took off into the night. Their bright green eyes flashed through the sky one last time before they disappeared.

The chipmunks finally looked away from the moonlit sky. They looked to each other with confusion and worry in their eyes.

"What do we do?" Brittany asked curiously.

"That's what we keep asking." Alvin sighed as he sat down against the trunk of the tree.

"Why don't we just go home?" Jeanette suggested as she too sat against the tree.

Ether and Vayle looked down silently. "Yea... home." Ether spoke quietly.

Nobody really noticed though. Because they suddenly heard something.

"What was that?" Brittany whispered fearfully. The chipmunks had all jolted up and were now searching the dim moonlit park.

"Guys? You remember the eagle said something about a fight?" Simon asked, his eyes frantically searching the dark fields of grass throughout the park.

It was a wide open area. Despite the many trees. It would still be quite easy for them to spot something in the distance.

Eleanor gulped at Simon's words. "Yea."

They heard the noise again. A low rustling sound. As if something with clawed feet was running through the grass, and it was close.

But still, they saw nothing.

That's when Alvin focused on something, he saw a flash of movement, a couple feet from him.

It was like a visible shiver of air. Like it was disrupted.

Alvin stared at the spot of movement. When suddenly, a form began to slowly melt into view.

Like a blanket of air was being slowly pulled off the giant creature.

It was now fully visible to the eight chipmunks. It's body was entirely black. And slimy, like it had just been submerged in cold water. It somehow looked like a strange, dragon-dog mix.

It had multiple tentacles rising from it slimy back. They waved in every direction.

The chipmunks screamed as they stared into the silver eyes of the demon.

It suddenly brought one of it's spiked, clawed arms up and crashed it down onto the chipmunks.

They scattered in every direction. Barely avoiding the blast of the massive, deadly arm.

But the creature was quick, it swiftly recovered and reached out and grabbed one of the panicking chipmunks with it's clawed hand.

"Jeanette no!" Simon yelled as he rushed up to the creature and jumped onto it.

He wrapped his arms around it's hand and bit into it as hard as he could.

Simon was surprised to find the creature screaming in pain from the unexpected strength of Simon's bite. Filthy, black blood spurted out of the wound.

It hand released Jeanette and dropped her to the ground. Simon quickly jumped off the beast and ran over to help Jeanette up.

She was frightened but unharmed.

But the creature was now angry. It roared and slammed it's arm down onto Simon and Jeanette's tiny forms.

They would've been crushed dead if Alvin hadn't tackled them out of the way just in time.

"Thanks Alvin." Simon told him as they got to their feet.

The creature was getting more and more angry. It decided to do something different.

It turned and found a very unsuspecting target. The creature grinned it's shiny metallic teeth and raised it's arm. Black, slimy tentacles shot out of it and flew towards Brittany and grabbed her ankle, yanking her body to the floor.

Brittany groaned in pain. The tentacles suddenly pulled back, wrapped tightly around Brittany's ankle. They slowly began to drag her across the grass. Brittany screamed as she clawed at the grass, trying to get away from the terrifying beast.

But it would not allow her. It shot out more tentacles and they quickly wrapped around her body and began to ensnare her arms.

"NO!" Alvin screamed as he ran towards the beast and launched himself at it. But the creature's reflexes were swift.

Lightning-fast, it swung it's other arm back, smacking directly into Alvin's body midair, sending him flying thirty feet across the field of grass.

Alvin collided with the ground and groaned in agony as the air was knocked out of him.

Brittany watched in horror as Alvin was smacked away like nothing while the creature continued to pull her screaming body towards it.

Every worst possible scenario passed through Brittany's thoughts. She feared them all.

But Fear is a very powerful emotion, it is the sword of Evil. And sometimes Fear, can spawn Anger.

And that is what suddenly rushed through Brittany right now. Pure Anger.

Her eyes suddenly glowed a fiery orange. Her paws ignited into burning flames.

"LET GO OF ME!" Brittany screamed. It was a scream she made only when she was really, really pissed off.

She grabbed onto the tentacles wrapped around her. The creature roared out in agony as the tentacles ignited from the searing flames on Brittany's paws.

It released Brittany as it pulled it's tentacles back.

The now flaming-pawed chipette stood up from the ground.

She slowly looked down at her paws, staring into the deep, orange flames.

But she felt no pain. Only a slight, comforting warmth.

She curiously made a small movement with her fingers. The flames moved with it. They swirled around her paw upon her command.

Brittany grinned. She had the power, to control the element of Fire.

The beast was growling in anger at the burns Brittany had given it.

Smiling to herself evilly, Brittany slowly turned her head around and met eyes with the demon.

It's dark, silver eyes stared with hatred at her ice-blue ones. Brittany suddenly turned around and faced the creature.

She flexed her arms out, flaming paws burning, striking a stance.

The other seven chipmunks had seen the entire thing. They now stared at Brittany in shock.

Clearly confused at what she was doing. But Brittany was well aware.

She did not know how, but she knew exactly what her power was. And she knew how to use it.

The moment her anger burned, so did her fire. And it was like the creation of a powerful muscle.

She had the power of fire in her paws, and she was mad.

The beast finally grew tired of being taunted, it launched itself from the ground and ran full speed towards the tiny chipette standing twenty feet away.

Brittany's eyes narrowed, she pushed off the ground and took off running straight towards the monster.

"BRITTANY NO!" Eleanor screamed at her sister.

Brittany didn't listen. She wanted revenge on the monster that almost killed her friends and family, and tried to hurt her.

The demon and the chipmunk raced towards each other. Eyes locked with hatred.

Brittany screamed with a ferocity nobody had ever seen. She launched herself high into the air at the beast.

It's eyes stayed locked with hers as the world seemed to slow for the two beings locked in combat.

Brittany raised her flaming paws and pointed them at the creatures face.

And with all the power she could muster. She pushed the fire from her paws.

And like dual flamethrowers, blistering fountains of pure flame shot from her paws and impacted the roaring beast directly in it's face.

Flames instantly rushed into it's mouth, the heat was far too intense, it's roar was cut short.

As Brittany flew over the beasts body, she did not stop shooting the flames from her paws.

The fountains of fire poured over it's head and onto it's back.

The creature's entire body was engulfed in the deadly fire. It screamed in unimaginable pain.

Brittany landed behind it's now burning body. Her eyes were dark as she stared at the ground, a devilish smirk on her face.

Then, without giving the beast a second glance. She slowly looked up at her sisters and friends, who were staring at her, speechless.

The demon was thrashing around wildly, dying a slow, painful death.

Finally, it's cries of agony died down as it's large, smoldering body crashed to the ground. Dead.

Brittany slowly rose to her feet. And walked over to the spot where the seven other chipmunks were now standing.

"Looks like I found my _ability_ huh?" Brittany asked, laughing.

Nobody laughed along with her. They shook their heads in confusion.

"This is actually happening..." Jeanette moaned as she grabbed her head and sat down, suddenly dizzy.

Simon crouched down to help her. Alvin watched Jeanette, apparently deep in thought.

But he then turned back to Brittany. "How did you do that?" He asked curiously.

Brittany shrugged simply. "It just felt... right. Like it was some sort of muscle, that I just _knew_ how to use. All I know is that it happened the moment I got mad." She explained as she remembered it.

"You're saying your anger activated it?" Vayle asked, confused.

"I guess so." Brittany replied as she turned around and looked at the smoldering creature laying in the grass. Some of the blades around it had burnt away.

"Will there be more?" Eleanor asked as she stared fearfully at the burning body.

"I don't think so Ellie." Simon told her as he stood up.

As if on cue, they suddenly heard a roar.

The group's heads spun around and they spotted the source. Almost a hundred feet away, stood another of the black, slimy monsters.

It was slowly walking towards the group. They stared at it with fear.

"Let's run!" Jeanette yelled as she quickly stood up.

"And lead it into the neighborhood where it could hurt other people? No, you heard the eagle. We have to fight." Simon said as he narrowed his eyes at the large beast. It growled as it slowly kept walking towards them.

'I'll handle this." Brittany said as she took a couple steps forward and pushed energy to her paws, igniting them into flames. But as she did so, she felt a sudden weakness rush over her.

She couldn't keep her balance and she fell backwards as the flames disappeared. Luckily, Theodore was there to catch her in his arms.

"Brittany what's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

Brittany was suddenly very tired. She answered quietly while trying to keep her eyes open.

"Don't...know...just...tired." She managed to whisper.

"Using that fire power, you must have exhausted a lot of energy." Simon suggested, knowing he was probably right.

Brittany groaned as she realized this. "Oh no..."

"What do we do now?" Theodore frantically asked Simon.

Simon didn't have time to answer because the giant creature suddenly launched itself at the group. It flew over them, grabbing Simon with it's clawed hand. And crashed, twenty feet away.

The group screamed as they realized what just happened. A second earlier, Simon was standing right there. Now he was in the clutches of the demon.

The beast roared at them. Simon was gasping for air as it's hand was crushing his lungs.

Theodore stared upon the scene in fear, true fear.

_No, Simon can't die. He...can't._ Theodore thought to himself as his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Anger now flowing through him.

Theodore suddenly released Brittany, handing her to Alvin and dropping onto his four paws and with all his strength. He sprinted towards the giant creature holding his brother.

Anger pulsed through him, unknown to Theodore, a new power was coursing through his veins...

Normally he would never do something like this. But he wasn't going to stand by and let Simon die. He felt strength, and it compelled him.

The beast clutched Simon tighter, and raised it's second arm, ready to smash it down on Theodore.

But Theodore was too quick, he nimbly dodged the blast of the giant arm, jolting to the side and jumping at the beast, pulling his arm back.

And with the most power Theodore had ever used in his life, he punched the demon square in it's underbelly. As he did so, he felt an amazingly powerful rush of wind follow his paw. It's power combined with Theodore's strength, launched the demon's giant body hurling into the air.

It's hand automatically dropped Simon's body to the ground with a painful _thud._

The creature roared in pain as it flew through the air, crashing hard into the ground and sliding a good eight feet before slamming into the trunk of a tree and stopping.

A dead silence followed. The six chipmunks stared at Theodore, speechless. But Theodore suddenly remembered.

"Simon! Are you okay?" He frantically asked as he rushed over to his brother's body in the grass.

Simon groaned as he rolled over onto his back. "Yea I'm fine Theo, my chest just hurts a little."

"Just lay down Simon, don't hurt yourself more please," Theodore told him as he gently pushed Simon back down as he tried to sit up.

Simon coughed painfully before sighing as he relaxed his back into the soft grass.

"Theodore, how did you do that?" Simon wheezed as he looked over at his little brother crouching next to him.

Theodore stared into Simon's blue eyes for a moment before a curious look came onto his face.

"I-I'm not sure Simon, I just felt, power. And this weird rush of wind followed me as I punched that thing. It felt awesome, and I didn't want you to get hurt." Theodore said quietly, looking down at his paws as he realized what he did.

Simon looked at him strangely for a moment. _A rush of wind?_

The silence was interrupted by a low, angry growl.

Everybody suddenly snapped out of their thoughts and looked over at the demon, slowly rising up from the ground. It wasn't done yet.

It reared up and rushed towards Theodore and Simon, looking ready to kill.

The lime-green eyes of a cetain chipette suddenly burned brightly. She felt something. A strange rush of ecstatic strength blast through her. She felt mad, and she liked it.

_My turn._ Eleanor said to herself as she took off running towards Simon and Theodore.

She launched herself into the air and landed in front of Theodore and Simon. The monster running towards them glared into her eyes.

Eleanor growled. Anger was something that ignited her inner emotions. She was ready to kill.

Eleanor suddenly felt a power run through her, her paw burned with warmth, and she _knew _to do.

She screamed as she raised her arm and with massive strength, smashed her paw into the ground.

The earth shook and rippled under the blast. The ground the monster was standing on, suddenly collapsed beneath it.

The roaring demon fell into the hole and it's cries died away as it tumbled far down into the darkness.

Eleanor raised her paw and the dirt repaired itself. The patch of grass that the demon had disappeared under looked completely normal.

"Wow Ellie, that was amazing." Theodore said as he stared in awe at his counterpart.

Eleanor turned around and looked at Theodore. "Thanks Theo, it felt awesome."

Simon groaned in pain. His chest was aching even more.

The rest of the chipmunks suddenly rushed over to the other three.

"Are you guys alright?" Ether asked with worry.

"We're great actually," Theodore answered, smiling.

"Simon, can you walk?" Alvin asked as he crouched down next to his brothers.

Simon coughed again but sat up, groaning from the pain. "I think so," he managed to breath out.

"Alright good, now let's get out of here quick before another one shows up." Alvin said quickly as he and Jeanette helped Simon to his feet.

"Good idea." Vayle pointed out as they started walking.

It took a while but the moon helped light the way to their house. They had to help Simon the whole way there, each step hurt his chest further.

"Alright it looks like you guys are coming with us for now." Alvin explained to Ether and Vayle as they neared the front door.

"And remember, play it cool." He noted as Brittany hopped onto the doorknob and twisted it. The door opened as everybody nodded.

As soon as they stepped inside, Theodore started yelling. "DAVE HELP! THERE'S A DOG CHASING US!"

Dave came sprinting around the corner and rushed to the group of chipmunks.

"Guys what happened? Where have you been?" Dave frantically yelled as he skidded into the front door, slamming it closed while trying not to run the chipmunks over.

"I just said! A dog was chasing us!" Theodore yelled at Dave like he was crazy.

"A dog? Are you guys alright?" Dave asked, clearly confused as to why Ether and Vayle were standing there and Simon was leaning on Alvin and Jeanette.

Alvin spoke up this time. "Uh Dave, have ya looked at Simon yet? Some dog started chasing us out of nowhere and it knocked him down hard. We had to carry him all the way here!"

Dave's eyes widened as he realized Simon was injured.

"Simon are you okay? How bad is it?" Dave worriedly asked as he scooped Simon up into his arms.

Simon yelped in pain as Dave accidentally pressed onto his chest. "Nothing too serious... unless you push on it!" Simon managed to wheeze out.

"Oh, sorry Simon." Dave said apologetically as he loosened his grip.

Dave carefully held onto Simon with worry as he questioned the rest of the group.

"So what happened guys?" He asked, apparently not remembering he said this already.

"Honestly Dave? We told you, we got chased by a freakin' dog!" Brittany said as she shook her head.

"No, I mean why are your friends here? No offense guys." Dave said to the two dark-furred chipmunks standing there nervously.

Brittany rolled her eyes at Dave's stupid question. "Uh, obviously they got chased too and weren't about to run all the way home just to get away from a dog." Brittany said sarcastically.

"Oh, right, sorry." Dave said, slightly embarrassed.

"Well anyway, we gotta get you laying down." Dave explained as he rushed from the room and carefully but quickly carried Simon upstairs. The other chipmunks quickly followed.

Dave rushed into their room and gently layed Simon down on his bed, pulling his ocean-blue blankets over him.

Dave then turned to the rest of the chipmunks, watching him intently.

"Alright Theodore, do you want to help Simon?"

Theodore looked at Dave like he had lost his mind. "Of course I will Dave! What do you want me to do?"

"Alright, go fix Simon some warm soup, and make it extra salty." Dave told Theodore as he looked over at Simon wheezing painfully.

"Got it Dave!" Theodore nodded as he hopped over to the door.

"I'll help you Theo!" Eleanor said as she hopped to his side.

"Me too guys!" Brittany suddenly spoke up. She hopped over to Theodore and Eleanor, smiling.

If one listened hard enough, they could practically hear the record player abruptly stopping over the sudden deafening silence that drenched the room.

Everybody's eyes were fixed with an unrelentingly surprised stare on Brittany.

It took her a moment to realize who everybody was staring at. "What?" She asked, annoyed.

"Uh Brittany, since when do you volunteer for anything, let alone cooking?" Alvin answered, his surprised stare turning into a grin.

"I'll have you guys know... I've cooked plenty things before." Brittany snapped, folding her arms angrily.

"Without the eater having to be rushed to the hospital?" Eleanor asked curiously.

"Oh shut up, that was one time!" Brittany shouted, getting more annoyed.

"It's fine Brittany, you can help me." Theodore gently told her, taking her paw in his.

Brittany turned at Theodore and smiled. "Thanks Theo!"

"See Alvin? HE trusts me." Brittany said as she stuck her tongue out at Alvin. Theodore pulled her and Eleanor around the corner before Alvin could retort back.

"Alright Jeanette, I want you and Alvin to go get a couple warm wash cloths, very warm." Dave added as he felt Simon's forehead with his index finger.

Alvin and Jeanette nodded and ran out of the room, leaving Dave alone with Ether and Vayle. Save for Simon lying there, clenching his eyes shut from his chest pain increasing.

Dave stared at Simon worriedly as he groaned in pain.

"What can we do to help?"

Dave jumped at the sound of Ether's soft voice. "Uh, you guys can grab Simon a couple extra pillows from the hall closet, so he can be elevated better." Dave told the two chipmunks.

They nodded and quickly hopped out of the room.

"Simon, I hope you're going to be okay..."

...

"Which salt Theo?" Brittany asked as she peered into the spices cupboard. Noticing the multiple selections labeled 'Salt'.

"Ocean Sand!" Theodore replied as he and Eleanor carefully carried the heavy can of chicken noodle soup from the small food cupboard.

Brittany scanned the many boxes until she finally spotted the container labeled 'Ocean Sand'. She grabbed it and hopped down onto the counter.

"Alright set it right here then get a bowl." Theodore instructed Brittany as he retrieved the can opener as Eleanor opened the microwave.

Theodore grabbed the soup can and with the precision of much experience, he tossed the can up at Eleanor. She caught it perfectly and set it down in the microwave. Theodore then grabbed the can opener and jumped up into the microwave with Eleanor and she held the can as Theodore carefully sliced the lid open.

"I got a plastic one." Brittany said as she too, hopped into the microwave.

"Alright good job Brittany, set it down and keep it still." Eleanor told her as she and Theodore grabbed the open soup can. Brittany gripped the blue plastic bowl as the two green-clad chipmunks carefully poured the soup into it.

"Alright good job guys, now come on, we gotta cook this." Theodore told the two chipettes as he grabbed the can opener and the empty can.

Brittany and Eleanor nodded as they jumped down onto the counter. Theodore set down the can before jumping back up to the microwave and latching onto the door handle. He swung himself, closing the door. He reached over and entered in the correct cooking time into the microwave keypad.

"That was impressive Theo!" Brittany exclaimed as Theodore expertly landed next to her on the counter.

"Thanks Britt! I do it all the time!" Theodore replied happily.

"So, do you think this'll really help Simon?" Eleanor asked with worry.

"I hope so Ellie, I hope so." Theodore said as he thought of his brother.

...

"Thanks guys." Dave said to Alvin and Jeanette as they handed him the heated wash cloths. "Alright Ether, Vayle, give me the pillows. We're gonna do this is one shot. The two dark-furred chipmunks handed Dave the blue pillows.

Simon's chest was aching much worse now and every movement was causing him pain. But he needed to be moved one more time.

Dave pulled the blankets away and ever so carefully, lifted Simon up, putting the extra pillows where he was laying. Dave then even more carefully, pulled Simon's blue sweater off him. Jeanette and Ether blushed and looked away, trying to be respectful. Simon clenched his teeth until his mouth ached.

Dave gently placed Simon back onto the pillows, then carefully placed the warm wash cloths on his bare chest and forehead. Simon sighed at the soothing warmth.

"Alright now just rest for a while buddy." Dave told Simon as he pulled the blankets up over him.

Simon nodded as he nestled into the warm covers. Comfortable and wanting nothing more than to just fall asleep.

"Thanks guys for your help." Dave told the four chipmunks standing there watching him.

They smiled and nodded. Suddenly, Theodore, Brittany, and Eleanor burst through the door carrying the steaming bowl of soup. "Is Simon ready to eat?" Brittany asked Dave.

Dave turned around and glanced at the snoring Simon.

"Uh guys, let's just leave it on the nightstand, he can eat it in the morning." The three chipmunks nodded as they handed the bowl to Dave. He took it and placed it on the nightstand in between the Chipmunk and Chipettes' bunk beds.

"So, is Simon gonna be okay?" Theodore asked quietly.

"Yea Theo, I'm sure he will be fine. Just a lot of soreness in his chest. If he's not better by tomorrow then I'll take him to the doctor to get it checked out." Dave explained to Theodore as he sat down on Jeanette's bed and looked the seven chipmunks over.

He noticed how they all kept yawning every few seconds. Brittany actually fell onto Jeanette because she was too exhausted to stand correctly.

"Well anyway, you guys look dead tired, why don't we all lay down and get some sleep?" Dave told them as he stood up and walked to the bedroom door. But then suddenly remembered.

"Ether, Vayle, don't you two need to be going home? Won't your parents be worried?" Dave suddenly asked, he never actually thought to ask before about the two chipmunks that randomly appeared at West Eastman today.

"Well, actually...we d-don't have any p-parents." Vayle slowly answered Dave. Staring at the ground.

Dave stared at Ether and Vayle in surprise. They were both refusing to look up.

Dave suddenly felt sad and guilty for asking. He wanted to question Vayle what he meant but he was sure he knew the answer. He decided to let it go for now.

"Alright well, you two can stay here for the night." Dave told the two chipmunks standing there nervously.

Their heads suddenly jolted up. "Really? Oh thank you Dave!" Ether and Vayle exclaimed as they rushed towards Dave and each hugged his legs.

"Yea no problem guys, now it's late. Get some sleep. Theodore, Eleanor, is it alright if these two share a bed with you?" Dave asked the two green-clad chipmunks.

"Of course Dave!" They both happily replied.

"Great, alright now goodnight everybody." Dave told them as he quietly shut the door.

Alvin looked at everybody as Ether and Vayle walked over to them, smiling. "Alright guys, I know we all have tons of questions. But for now let's just get some sleep. We'll figure all this out in the morning." He explained to the group.

"Yea Alvin, you're right." Jeanette said, yawning.

"Alright," Everybody else tiredly replied.

They each walked to their respective beds. More like dragged themselves. They had quite a day.

"Come on Vayle, you can sleep in my bed." Theodore happily told the dark-furred chipmunk.

"Thanks Theodore, I'd like that." Vayle thankfully replied.

"You can sleep with me Ether." Eleanor told the chipette, Smiling.

"Thanks Eleanor!" She replied, smiling at how kind Eleanor was.

After a couple minutes, each chipmunk was comfortably nestled into their soft blankets. They each fell asleep almost immediately. Falling into a deep, peaceful, dreamless slumber.

Amazing how the very chipmunks that held existence together, could all sleep so peacefully. They had no idea what events would soon be forced upon them.

Lucky them.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Their ride...has only begun. Prepare yourselves, for anything...and everthing.<strong>_

**_Brittany, you will never forgive me. But neither will It forgive you. Choose your next slaughter wisely. Very wisely. We all depend on it._**

**_Haven to Nothing...? (BusyLovingChipmunks)_**


	6. Decisions of Oblivion

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 6 – Decisions of Oblivion  
><strong>

**_I would like to thank the masterfully skilled Pancakez for helping me greatly with this chapter. His styles are purely amazing. _**

**_You will find that certain things. Can only lead to others. Unleash your mind in this. Or you will fall. But most of all...prepare yourself._  
><strong>

* * *

><p>All was silent and peaceful in the Seville household. With the window ajar, a cold, night breeze could be heard hissing through the thin air of bliss. The eight chipmunks slept peacefully, and their minds were likely vacant or having a nice, peaceful dream in their mind…<p>

Save for one certain chipmunk.

* * *

><p><em>"These grasses are so smooth… and the air is so soft… Beautiful, just beautiful…"<em>

_Alvin was calm and serene. Bird's singing echoed around the grassy plane. He twirled his furry body elegantly in the grasses, letting the vibrant flowers to fly up until they were lost from sight. His arrogance seemed to have lost his place, and being joyful was his only intention now… _

_But dreams… unfortunately, could change._

_The air was suddenly silent. He glanced up at the once beautiful azure-blue sky, only to witness its color slowly but lucidly fade to dark gray, as though storm clouds had suddenly appeared in the sky and blocked the entire sun from the surface of the earth…_

_Alvin was unnerved by this. All he wanted was just to be idyllic._

_Suddenly, a tiny rustling sound penetrated his ear and Alvin scanned the area carefully. Staring at the endless planes, nothing seemed abnormal. The lush grasses sat there, waving softly in the non-existent breeze…_

_A soft yet familiar whisper caused Alvin to turn around frantically. _

_A nightmare, he thought. His heart raced a hundred miles a second, clearly hearing the beats in his chest. Alvin braced himself to endure any menacing monster that's coming at his way. Was it a giant dog or a double-headed Hydra? No matter, the faster it ends, the better it was. _

_But he was met only by the gorgeous sight of Brittany, standing there innocently in her soft, pink pajamas. Gracefully, she pushed a bang of hair away from her visage, revealing her icy-blue jewels that shined whenever Alvin stared at them._

_He took a few cautious steps toward her auburn-furred form. Alvin was hesitant, still, she's his friend…_

_"Oh… Britt, what are you doing here?" Alvin asked softly._

_She seemed shyer than usual and tried to hide her face away. Yet, Alvin saw her smile._

_"I'm just a little worried." She replied quietly, avoiding making eye contact._

_"About what…?" Alvin curiously asked as he gently took one of Brittany's soft paws in his own._

_She sniffed slightly, letting a small half-transparent tear to escape her eyes and drip down. "That I would lose you, and you won't be around, and, and-."_

_"Oh Brittany, that would never happen." Alvin said, squeezing her paw in assurance._

_"I really don't know, Alvin. I…"_

_"I promise." Alvin replied with a grin._

_Brittany stopped her light sobs and gazed up slowly, showing absolute hopes in her shining-blue pupils. Alvin nodded confidently, bringing her closer to him as he started to embrace her…_

_"Excellent, Alvin… Everything is perfect." Brittany smirked deviously._

_Alvin quickly released her paws and took a couple steps back away from her. He didn't know what was occurring. Her eyes seemed to be in mixture of blue and purple. As she took a step forward, her eyes were _slowly_ flashing dots of bloody red until it was like a laser in dark._

_"Britt… Brittany?" He asked fearfully._

_She chuckled darkly, earning a more frightened expression from her friend._

_'Brittany' didn't reply. But something did._

_"I love feeding off those feeble, little, pathetic promises that you will never be able to keep." Brittany spoke through a bizarrely deep, hissing voice that's sharper than the wind. Her eyes melting completely blood-red.  
><em>

_Alvin gulped. "What the hell is going on?"_

_Brittany looked up towards the blackened sky and raised both of her hands while shutting her eyelids. "Behold, every single promise strengthens me. Make as much as you can, Alvin. I will certainly be delightful."_

_When the _thing_ called his name, it sounded horrible. "What –what do you mean?" Alvin stammered._

_She gawped back at him with a devilish smile. "Sure enough, your tears will fall like a stream of oblivion as you watch these wretched, pitiful lies become broken."_

_Alvin was getting scared. He couldn't bear to hear Brittany talk like this. "Who –who are you?"_

_It ignored his question. "Brittany will never die until she is tortured with unimaginable pain and suffering. From the ground to the sky, nothing will be in favor of her anymore. She _will _be grief-stricken to the highest level… emotionally, mentally and physically. You only can do nothing. Fate has spoken its words."_

_Alvin was speechless. "You're… you're-"_

_"Her soul will scream, higher than anyone could imagine and break her throat into bits of nothing and still you will not be there. Perhaps I will invite you… only to witness firsthand of her gore culminating. The prophecy may say otherwise, but I'd like to make a change."_

"_That's not true! I don't know-"_

"_You don't know?" It laughed. "What a friend you are."_

_That crossed the line. Alvin wasn't going to deal with this._

"_She's… she's my best friend!" Alvin screamed at Brittany as he rushed towards her and tackled her to the ground. _

_As they both impacted the soft grasses, their bodies shattered into ashes, drifting across the field as if nothing had happened in those few moments…._

"Brittany, I am sorry. I failed you. No matter how much you cried for me. I could not save you. But Vengeance is a beautiful thing... Get ready."

* * *

><p>Alvin eyes popped wide open.<p>

He quickly sat up and panted for air. Every detail of the nightmare was so vivid, more lively than anything he had experienced in his life. He could have sworn if he had stayed longer in that dream, he would be convinced that it wasn't just a big, fat lie…

He looked around. Everybody was asleep with small snores, peaceful as they could ever be. That was the way Alvin was just a few hours ago. He checked the clock. 6:15.

It was still dark outside, only showing the slightest hint of a blue light from the skies outside the window. Dawn's approaching and he was as tired as busy Dave, but there was no way he's going back to sleep. Not now, at least. And if he had a choice: not _ever_.

Alvin needed someone, one to understand his condition and perhaps, just listen to him right now. As much as he trusted Brittany, he required someone who's _not _Brittany.

_She's the reason for the whole _damn_ thing! _Alvin gritted his teeth.

Alvin considered thoroughly, something that he hadn't done in a long time. Simon's pretty close to him yet he would just probably state it's just a stupid dream with extreme sarcasm.

What about Theodore? _He'll just freak out and everything's in chaos._

Eleanor? _She's just the same as my little brother._

And finally, there was the two new house guests sleeping in Theodore and Eleanor's beds. But Alvin wouldn't think of starting up a conversation with them about his nightmare. He barely knew Ether and was sure Vayle wasn't exactly delighted at Alvin's rudeness to them the previous day.

Besides, although they didn't show it, the two dark-furred chipmunks were under more stress and confusion than any of them. They had been told they were what holds existence together. And that demons were coming to rip them to shreds. And if they died, everybody did...not something that can be taken lightly by a couple teenage chipmunks.

Quietly, Alvin hopped onto Jeanette's purple bed. He didn't exactly expect it, but it's his only choice.

He walked on tip-toes, trying his best not to stir her, but not for long. Her chest rose and fell with every peaceful breath and pulse. She was perfectly _asleep_ without anything to disturb her.

Something Alvin wanted.

Alvin examined her smooth chocolate-brown fur. He very lightly touched her paw and retracted his arm, making sure she wasn't aware of his presence. Her paws were stretched out on both sides of her, a sign of completely relaxation.

Her glasses were not present on her face. They had apparently fallen off some point during her slumber.

Alvin didn't want to disturb a creature in pure tranquility. But he was scared out of his mind. Jeanette's the kindest, got the brain, and wouldn't snap at him… probably.

So, as quietly as possible, he knelt down beside the figure.

_Here goes nothing. _And reluctantly, he poked her pink little nose. It made an involuntary twitch.

Jeanette jolted awake, slightly aware of the situation but was extremely dizzy. She unenthusiastically opened her bright-violet eyes and looked around. All she saw was a chipmunk-sized, red blob kneeling next to her.

"Al… Alvin? Why'd you do that?" Groggily, she whispered.

He bit his lips, feeling guilty for waking her. "Sorry Jen, I just wanted someone to talk to. Will you come outside with me?"

Jeanette stared at Alvin strangely. He never acted like so polite and _never_ woke up this early.

_Must be something important…_ "Uh… sure… Alvin, why not?" Jeanette spoke quietly as she slowly sat up.

Patiently, Alvin watched her as she slowly stood up on her bed. Though, the moment she's up, she tripped over herself clumsily.

"Darn… where are my glasses?" She repeatedly tapped the area around her, trying to feel her surroundings.

Alvin spotted them next to the other side of her pillow. "Here you go, Jeanette." He said as he helped slide them onto her furry face. He was waiting for their conversation anxiously and wanted to hurry.

She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the dark atmosphere.

"Much better, thanks Alvin." She said as she stood up, this time with more coordination.

Alvin stared at her messy, but yet glossy fur. Her mahogany-coloured body was covered only by her silky purple nightgown.

She noticed Alvin's staring and cleared her throat nervously, grabbing his attention.

Alvin quickly snapped out of it and chuckled uneasily. "Oh, uh… sorry, shall we go?"

She nodded positively. They each hopped down and as silently as possible, walked out of the room. Alvin wanted to leave the other six chipmunks to continue sleeping.

He led the way downstairs and to the backyard door. He hopped up and landed on the handle, twisting it and opening the door, all in one second.

They walked outside, feeling the damp air was way cooler than in the house. All was silent, except for the couple chirps of the morning birds that were starting to wake up. Alvin leaped over onto the couch on the back porch and sat down comfortably.

He noticed Jeanette was still glancing at her furry hind paws. "Jen, C'mon." He gestured Jeanette to come sit down with him.

She slowly walked over to him and hopped onto the couch, but there was a minute of awkward silence. Jeanette was basically waiting for Alvin's reason for bringing her here and Alvin wasn't sure on how to start on his craziness.

"So…" Both of them spoke at the same time.

Jeanette shook her head. "Never mind, you'll speak first."

He smiled, appreciating her kindness. "Jeanette, actually I… I'm having these whimsical dreams. It's the third time now. I know it's just a dream but it's really getting to me. It seems so real to me, and -and scary." Alvin told Jeanette as he twiddled his thumbs nervously.

'Alvin' and 'scared' were never a proper combination of words. It was unexpected. "Well, um, maybe you can elaborate on that. I've always heard that talking about the dream helps out." Jeanette squirmed uncomfortably, but she was still willing to help her friend.

Alvin grinned tenderly at Jeanette's benevolence. "You'll hear me out?"

She nodded shyly. "I'm here."

He scratched the back of his head, wondering on how to start. "Basically… in the dream, I keep seeing Brittany."

"That's very normal, isn't it?" Jeanette asked curiously. _They are friends anyway._

Alvin corrected. "Actually, she looked like Brittany, but she's not behaving like the one I know."

Jeanette tapped her chin twice. "Perhaps that's how dream works."

The red-clad chipmunk sighed dejectedly. "No, it's just… She's like… some type of _evil_ Brittany. The first time in my dream, her eyes were blank gray, there's no emotion and whatsoever. And out of nowhere, she punched me square in the face."

Jeanette nodded slowly. "Continue, Alvin."

"Then, she was crying in our room and when I talked to her, she told me she hated me…" Alvin trailed off.

Jeanette bit her lips. She remembered this one, she and their siblings had witnessed it alongside Alvin, just like he had witnessed theirs.

He was apparently saddened by the dreams. "Maybe your rivalry is messing with your head, or-"

"Her eyes were _freaking_ bloody rose-red, Jen!" He almost yelled, which made her back off.

Alvin regained his calmness after a short while looking at her shocked face. "Uh, I'm sorry, Jeanette. I didn't mean to…"

"It is okay, Alvin. That's how a listener works." She smiled sympathetically.

He released a breath of relief. Alvin was glad that he chose her.

"Is that all, Alvin?"

He gulped his saliva down. "The worst hasn't even begun yet."

Jeanette gave him a reassuring smile. "I thought so."

"I was in a grassy place. It felt nice and joyful just being there. Brittany appeared later all upset over something...and I sort-of comforted her and promised that I'll always be by her side."

"Aww…" Jeanette cooed softly. "That wasn't bad at all."

Alvin wanted to give himself a face-palm but this wasn't a right time. "Jen, please, I'm _not_ in the mood right now."

She gave a sheepish giggle. "Pardon me."

"It's strange. I was practically floating on air, watching myself and Brittany. Her eyes turned to red again, but this time, she spoke with… with… some _kind_ of sinister voice. That voice said _she_ will be tortured and… and a lot of violent things." Alvin rather not explained the terrible part.

"And you did nothing?" Jeanette asked quietly.

"I did. I tackled her down and everything suddenly disappeared, gone. But after that, I heard myself talking, I said how I failed her and something about vengeance…"

Alvin finally finished explaining his nightmare to Jeanette, who was silently sitting there. She was still in her world, dissolving everything he had just said.

"I… I didn't want to tell this to Theo or Ellie, they would've got scared. And Simon probably would've laughed, thinking I'm being stupid. I sure as heck wasn't going to tell _Brittany_. So… you're the only one I can imagine would understand." Alvin admitted, almost in shame.

She gazed back up and grinned weakly. "Alright Alvin, bear with me here and let me say something."

Alvin nodded with assurance.

"Alright, I know how you feel, not exactly, but I know what it feels like to have such a realistic dream and for it to make you feel like that. The same thing happened to me remember?"

Alvin quietly nodded as he recalled Jeanette's nightmare. "Well, my point is, it feels scary, yea. But Alvin, it's still just a _dream_. After what I saw yesterday with Brittany torching a monster twenty times her size, Theodore punching one thirty feet across a field, and Eleanor caving in the ground with her own paws...I think I believe that what's going on is real. So maybe, you're just being attacked. One of these demons is trying to scare you?" Jeanette finished as she sighed, not used to talking so fast.

"Scaring me...or showing me the future."

The gut-wrenching shiver that ran through Jeanette's spine was frightening. But it was nothing compared to the one that penetrated Alvin's veins.

He gulped as he realized exactly what he had just spoken forth from his mouth.

The following silence was absolutely deafening. Not a sound. Not a chirp. The soft breeze seemed to halt.

"No. I'm not going to let that happen. Not to Brittany. I'm not going to let anything happen to any of us. I promise and I mean it."

"_Yesss..."_

Alvin's head darted up. Searching the backyard. He looked around. Nothing.

"Jeanette?"

"Yea Alvin?"

"Did you hear that?" Alvin fearfully asked the chipette sitting next to him. But Jeanette looked confused as ever.

"Hear what Alvin?" Jeanette asked, fright edging into her voice.

Suddenly, a black crow landed in the backyard field of grass. Jeanette stared at it. For some reason, the bird had it's back turned to her and Alvin.

"It sounded like a whisper. Like an echo." Alvin spoke up again. Now really looking all around him. But nobody was there except the continuously worried Jeanette.

"Alvin I didn't hear anything...m-maybe you're thinking about the dream too much."

But now Jeanette was glancing around also. Wondering what Alvin was looking for.

"No, I _heard _something." Alvin told Jeanette, clear scare was in his lucid words.

Jeanette was about to reply something about it was just in his head...until she heard a screech.

Alvin and Jeanette's heads darted up in fear as they watched the black crow suddenly launch up into the air...and fly straight towards them. Straight towards Jeanette.

It happened too fast for Jeanette to jump out of the way. The crow's talon suddenly clamped around her ankle, and yanked her from the couch.

Alvin was shocked, he didn't see it coming. A moment earlier his friend was sitting there next to him. Now she was screaming, in the clutches of a bird.

_No, not Jeanette. _Alvin thought to himself. He needed to act, quickly.

He looked around and spotted something, a wooden pillar leading to the porch roof. Alvin ran and jumped high off the couch, landing on the pillar and latching onto it. He quickly positioned himself, and launched off the pillar.

"Jeanette!" Alvin shouted as he flew through the air towards the crow flying away with the tiny chipette in it's clutches.

Jeanette was hanging upside down in terror. Tears streaming from her eyes as she thought she was going to die. But she spotted Alvin, she acted quickly, reaching her arms out.

Alvin caught her paws and latched on, now they were both flying through the air in the clutches of the crow.

"Jeanette! You have to swing me up!" Alvin shouted up at Jeanette, who was barely able to hold his weight.

"Alright I'll try!" Jeanette yelled back, unsure of herself.

With as much strength as she could muster, she swung her arms back and forth. Gaining speed until finally, she released Alvin and he flew upwards.

But Alvin was a stunt master, he timed it perfectly, flying above the ascending crow from the force of Jeanette's throw. He flipped once, then with precision, landed on the crows back.

He quickly latched onto it and held tightly.

The crow screeched a horrible sound, and darted it wings back, propelling itself downward along with Alvin and Jeanette.

Alvin had to act quickly again, he climbed down towards the crow's neck. He grappled onto it's wings with his hind paws and pushed himself upward, and latched on the birds neck, pulling back his other fist. The crow glanced at Alvin, and when Alvin stared into it's eyes. He almost fell right off.

It's eyes were completely gray. Empty, blank. Alvin remembered his first nightmare. _Brittany._..

But Alvin shook his head and as quick as a gun pin, he punched the crow directly in it's eyeball.

It screeched horribly, then spun out of control towards the ground. Alvin and Jeanette screamed in complete terror as they held on for dear life.

But the crow's wings suddenly flapped upward. The two chipmunks' bodies were thrust upward swiftly, but the opposing force of the propelling wind, forced them back down.

Alvin and Jeanette were thrown off the crow and impacted the ground painfully.

Jeanette groaned as she slowly sat up, holding her stomach.

The crow turned back around in air and stared at the two chipmunks. Alvin rose to his feet and glared back into it's blank eyes. Daring it to attack again.

It hovered for a moment before finally flapping it's dark wings and flying away.

Alvin rushed over to Jeanette and helped her to her feet. "You alright Jen?" He asked, concerned.

"Yea... I'm fine." Jeanette spoke quietly as her and Alvin walked over to the porch.

Alvin released Jeanette as he walked over and hopped onto the door leading inside the house, opening it for him and Jeanette.

They each quickly hopped inside and closed the door as quietly as possible and as quick as possible.

Alvin held Jeanette's shaking paw as they walked upstairs and into the room where their friends and siblings were still fast asleep.

It was still dark in the quiet room. None of the chipmunks had woken yet. The electric clock on the nightstand read 6:47.

Alvin and Jeanette had to think a moment of what they should do...should they wake their siblings and friends? To let them know of the random, demon-crow attack? Or should they let them peacefully continue sleeping?

Their questions were cut short as they caught the sound of one of the chipmunks stirring.

Ether stirred herself awake and slowly crawled out of bed. Careful not to wake the peaceful form of Eleanor right next to her.

She quietly hopped down from Eleanor's bunk and landed on Jeanette's empty bed. She noticed. _Where's Jeanette?_ Ether thought to herself as she looked around.

She curiously spotted two dark figures standing near the bedroom door, watching her. Ether was scared, they looked strange. But she quickly focused her bright, double-colored eyes and noticed the two figures were none other than Alvin and Jeanette.

She hopped down from Jeanette's bunk and onto the floor. Happily, she walked over to her two friends.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

Alvin and Jeanette glanced at each other quickly before answering. "Oh nothing Ether, we just got back from a talk outside." Jeanette quietly told Ether as she nervously pulled at her silky nightgown, not sure whether or not she should tell Ether what had happened.

Alvin was staring at Ether, mouth slightly open.

Her dark-black furry body glistened beautifully in the dim light of the bedroom. She stood there innocently, wearing one of Eleanor's lime-green nightgowns. It perfectly complimented her stunning, sharp blue and violet eyes. Alvin admired her messy hair slightly covering her left violet eye.

And just like Jeanette, she noticed Alvin staring...and looked away shyly, Smiling.

Alvin snapped out of it and nervously swept his bushy tail across the floor. Not sure what to say.

So Jeanette spoke up. "So, anyway Ether, are you hungry? 'Cause we could go wake up Dave and ask him to fix us something."

Ether's eyes brightened at the thought of food. "Yea, Jeanette sure, I'd love that! I'm starving..." Ether admitted as she felt her stomach rumble.

"Alright come on, let's go downstairs." Jeanette told Ether as she grabbed her paw and led her out of the room.

But Jeanette popped around the doorway again, "Alvin, you coming?" She asked curiously.

"Yea Jen, I'll be right there, and I'll get Dave." Alvin told her with assurance. Jeanette nodded and disappeared around the corner.

Alvin however, walked over to the Chipettes' bunk. He carefully and quietly, climbed up the tiny ladder leading to the individual beds.

He continued climbing all the way to the top until he quietly stepped onto to the soft, pink-clad bed of Brittany.

He silently walked over to the sleeping form of the chipette. Careful with his steps as he certainly did not want to wake her. Who knew what she would say...

But despite that, Alvin _needed_ to see her, the _real _her. Not some demented version who spoke only horrific images.

He finally approached her quietly and knelt down beside her body. He stared upon her in blissful awe. He always loved her beautiful, silky auburn fur.

Although most of her body was covered by the soft pink blankets that were messily sprawled across her petite body. Alvin still had much to admire.

Hesitantly, Alvin reached out and touched Brittany lightly on her furry arm. He then slowly traced his finger down the length of it and softly touched her warm paw, briefly remembering how just a few hours earlier, he had watched fountains of flames shoot from that paw. But he then proceeded to move his finger down across the blankets until he reached where they stopped. One of her furry hind paws exposed. Alvin gently placed his paw upon her small foot.

He didn't know why, but he just wanted to touch her without any type of interference...he was enjoying it.

But he quickly decided he should stop before the peacefully resting chipette awoke from his act. He retracted his hand and stood up. Taking one last glance at the beautiful sleeping girl before he hesitantly walked away and hopped down from the bed and quietly left the room.

* * *

><p>"So what do you guys want?" Dave asked the three chipmunks sitting together at the kitchen table.<p>

"How about some blueberry toaster waffles?" Jeanette timidly suggested.

"Oh that sounds good!" Ether gawped as she imagined the warm food.

Dave rolled his eyes at the funny looking chipette. He reached into the freezer and pulled out the correct box.

"So Ether. when do you think Vayle will wake up?" Jeanette asked, trying to break the silence as they waited for their food.

"Well he usually sleeps in you know, probably more now 'cause it's Saturday and we were up late last night." Ether explained shyly.

"Heh, just like me." Alvin chuckled as he glanced at Ether, grinning. She laughed along with him.

Theodore and Eleanor suddenly walked around the corner and into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"Hey guys good morning!" Ether exclaimed, waving happily.

"Oh hey Ether, I didn't expect you to be awake...certainly didn't expect _you_ to be awake Alvin." Eleanor said slowly as she stared at Alvin in shock.

Seeing Alvin awake this early on a Saturday morning...nothing short of a miracle.

They three chipmunks laughed at Theodore and Eleanor's surprise. The two green-clad chipmunks just shook their heads and hopped up onto the table with the others.

"Oh hey guys, how's Simon?" Dave asked Theodore and Eleanor as he spotted them at the table.

"Oh he's alright Dave! I checked on him and he's sleeping fine!" Theodore happily told Dave.

Dave nodded as he pulled out some toaster waffles from...the toaster. "That's good Theo, he's recovering."

And the silence played out as Dave continued to prepare the chipmunks food.

Then..."WOO HOO!" Came the sudden shout of glee of a certain chipette who had just zoomed into the kitchen on a skateboard.

"Brittany be careful!" Dave shouted at her as she rolled right past him and straight to the table- too late, she crashed right into it with a _bang_.

The five chipmunks standing on top of it were knocked off their feet as the table jolted forward from the force of the skateboard.

"Oops! Sorry guys!" Brittany shouted as she jumped onto the table and helped the chipmunks onto their hind paws.

"Nice one Britt! Why didn't I think of that?" Alvin said as Brittany pulled him up.

"Haha, I knew you'd like it Alvin. quite an entrance huh?" Brittany said as she giggled to herself.

"Alright guys calm down, it's time to eat." Dave interrupted as he set down three plates with toaster waffles on them for the six chipmunks to share.

During the silent eating. A thought passed through Alvin's mind. He didn't know why, but he somehow got the notion that this may be the last breakfast they would ever eat like this. So he enjoyed it deeply.

* * *

><p>"A crow you say?" Vayle curiously asked Alvin.<p>

"Yea, definitely some type of demon."

The eight chipmunks were all awake and sitting together on Simon's ocean-blue bed.

"That can't be good, now they know where we live!" Brittany suddenly exclaimed.

"Oh no, that means these things could come after us anytime! They could kill us in our sleep, or-or, they could be climbing through the window right now!"

Everybody stared at Brittany, she looked to be having a nervous breakdown.

"Brittany, calm down. We just need to figure what to do, I mean we can't just stay here like sitting ducks can we?" Jeanette explained frantically.

Alvin walked over to Jeanette as he spoke.

"Exactly, Jen, Brittany, we need a plan. We could call the police how about that? You know, get some help?" Alvin suggested.

"No,"

The seven chipmunks suddenly turned to a certain blue-clad chipmunk who had just spoken.

Simon hadn't said a word ever since Alvin explained how Jeanette was almost killed. He was thinking deeply about the whole situation.

"What do you mean no?" Brittany asked Simon, raising an eyebrow.

"Guys, we have to get out of here. We have to leave Los Angelas." Simon told them.

Simon let the silence play out as the others took in what he said.

"Simon, why would we leave? This is our home." Jeanette said as she watched Simon curiously.

Simon groaned as he sat up more. "Think about it, we are magnets now. Demons, true genuine monsters are coming after us, I don't think they're going to be so merciful to everybody around us. It's too risky."

The group staring at him just looked more confused so Simon continued.

"What I'm trying to say is, I don't want our friends to get hurt because of us. What about Dave? What if some monster goes after him? We are a danger to everybody now, we have to leave." Simon carefully explained to the group.

They just stared at Simon, realizing he was right.

"No, guys. Me and Ether will leave, we are the reason for all this anyway. We will leave so you guys are safe." Vayle told them all seriously.

No matter how much Simon's chest ached, he forced himself to stand up to Vayle's height as he spoke.

"I'll tell you what's going to happen Vayle, Ether. You guys aren't going anywhere. You guys are staying with us and that's final, we're your guardians now. We are meant to protect you. And I'm sure as hell not planning for my nightmare to come true if you guys die. And I know my brothers and the Chipettes don't. Alvin? Brittany?"

The two chipmunks very quickly shook their heads.

"Yea, didn't think so." Simon folded his arms and turned back to Ether and Vayle, standing there speechless.

"You're right Simon, we all need to stick together. And we need to get away from this city. To protect everybody else." Jeanette explained as she softly took Simon's paw in her own. He smiled down at her.

"So it's settled then. We leave tonight."

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went by rather slowly. The chipmunks just sat around at home all day, not daring to go outside. Dave didn't pay much mind to it.<p>

He had decided to let Ether and Vayle stay another night. Through questioning, he had discovered the two chipmunks had been living in the forest over the past few months. And that they had just recently found out about West Eastman and had decided to enroll themselves. That was all they were willing to tell Dave.

He had already told the group goodnight and closed his door.

11:35

The chipmunks were huddled around the bedroom door. Waiting.

"You ready Brittany?" Alvin asked the chipette pulling her black leather jacket on.

She turned around and smiled at him. "Yea, I'm ready." She replied, pulling her pink backpack over her shoulder.

The group all nodded to each other, taking one last glance at their bedroom. They closed the door and walked downstairs.

They had all the supplies they needed gathered into a few backpacks. Meeting at the door. They were ready to leave.

Simon was bandaged up and had a small traveling stick to lean on. Taking one last glance at the living room. Simon left a small piece of paper on the chair. And walked to the front door.

They all nodded to each other and Alvin hopped up and opened the door quietly.

The eight chipmunks slowly stepped out into the midnight air.

Their journey, had begun.

* * *

><p><strong>Where will they go? What will transpire in their travels?<br>**

**Will a chipmunk die? Or will a chipmunk kill? It all truly begins now...**

_Jeanette, take this tool. Use it wisely. For you may not stand a chance against your sister without it.  
>Or against anything. You may just save us all...<em>

_**Please review this chapter. Give me your opinion. It helps me incredibly. Whether it be a flame or an honest opinion. Just review. No matter how small or how big it is. Thank you.**  
><em>

**Haven to Bliss (BusyLovingChipmunks)  
><strong>


	7. Vittoria

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 7 - Vittoria**

**_I would like to thank the legendary Winddragon Eternal for beta-reading and editing this chapter for me. He is very skilled and helped me quite a bit. =)_**

**The chipmunks have left the safety of their homes in hopes of taking the danger that follows them, away from their friends and family...Enjoy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"This was a stupid idea, Alvin."<p>

As the group of chipmunks had been walking for hours now, Alvin suggested they took a shortcut through the path that led into a dark forest.

And now they were lost.

Alvin rolled his eyes at Brittany, "Come on Britt, don't say that. I'll get us out of here in no time," he said, slinging his arm over Brittany's shoulder.

"That's what you said forty minutes ago!" Brittany snapped back as she shoved his arm off.

Alvin looked down in shame, knowing she was right.

"We're lost, we're cold, we're being hunted by monsters who could pop out any second and kill us, and to top it all off... I hate forests!" Brittany was completely annoyed. Ever since the nightmare, she didn't very much like forests at all, let alone being lost in one in the middle of the night.

But she wasn't the only one who didn't have a fondness for the forest either.

"I hate this place too," Simon complained as he stepped over a tree root, groaning in pain as he fell straight on his chest, a short gasp of pain riddled his body.

"And I'm pretty thirsty." Ether joined in.

Alvin jumped in surprise, despite Ether's somewhat bright clothes, she was still practically a shadow in the dark forest due to her blending dark fur.

He had totally forgot Ether was walking beside him.

"Ugh, can you guys just shut up! I'm trying to think!" Alvin shouted at the three chipmunks. Brittany just rolled her eyes.

All was quiet as the group continued through the woods. They weren't sure of their bearings, but still they let their instincts guide them.

"Guys look! A pond!" Theodore suddenly shouted, pointing to a pond of water about twenty feet away, its surface glistened with the bright moon shining on it.

"Awesome!" Ether shouted with glee as she took off running towards the pond.

The rest of the group shrugged and followed her.

As soon as Ether got to the water, she knelt down and dipped her face into the water.

"COLD! It's too cold!" the poor chipette shouted as she jumped up and shook her head dry of the freezing waters.

Brittany closely observed. "Hmm." She looked down at her paw.

"I think I can do something about that."

Brittany channeled the energy through her paw, feeling the warmth flowing throughout her, and she watched in awe as it ignited into flames.

It was amazing how she could catch onto her new power so quickly, it was like a second tail to her. Just like a muscle that she knew how to control, for the most part.

She walked up to the edge of the pond, and slowly dipped her flaming paw into the water. She felt the water sting the flames, but she kept them alive.

And she pushed more power, more energy to her paw as she increased the temperature of the flames.

She burned it brighter until the waters started to bubble and smoke from the intense heat she was pouring into them.

Soon the entire pond was lit with the enchanted light of fire under the waters.

Finally satisfied, Brittany retracted her paw, letting the flames die away as she stared at the pond in amazement. What was once a cold, icy death trap now looked like a welcoming hot tub. And to top it off, it was warmed to the perfect temperature.

Ether smiled and knelt back down and carefully, took a few gulps of the warm, soothing water.

"Thanks Brittany!" she said happily, enjoying the warm liquid that trickled down and soothed her insides.

"Yea Britt, that was amazing." Alvin remarked as he stared in awe.

The rest of the chipmunks rushed towards the water, wading straight into the warm waters as they dropped their backpacks on the rocky shore. They all sighed in relief as the warm waters soothed their cold bodies.

Simon waded inch by inch into the waters, having to be extra careful since the bottom of the pond was rather muddy and his walking stick kept slipping.

He just started to enjoy himself when he noticed a certain bespectacled chipette was missing. He looked around in confusion and spotted her, still standing on the shore.

"Jeanette what are you doing? Come on in." Simon said as he walked back over to her.

"Oh I-I don't know Simon. I can't swim." Jeanette explained as she looked down fearfully at the dark waters.

Simon had completely forgotten about Jeanette's _aquaphobia_. Her fear of drowning.

"Jeanette, it's fine. You can't drown in water that barely goes up to your waist. It's only like four inches." Simon gently explained to Jeanette as he tenderly took her paw in his.

Jeanette looked up into Simon's deep blue eyes. She always trusted him no matter what, but she feared water. She looked back down at the pond and gulped.

"Come on Jen, you got me." Simon said reassuringly as he pulled her close into an embrace.

Jeanette sighed at Simon's gentle hug. "Alright Simon, I trust you."

Simon returned her smile and together, they slowly waded into the warm waters. Simon decided to drop his walking stick; he was feeling better and he had Jeanette to hold onto anyway. While at the same time she was actually holding onto him.

The two chipmunks were practically oblivious to the other six around them. They were in their own happy world right now. Enjoying the soothing warm waters.

Holding onto each other lovingly, it was a blissful moment of peace.

Until Jeanette felt something wet touch her shoulder.

She gasped and whipped her head around. And then she screamed.

Surrounding the couple, were multiple tentacles rising out of the pond, made completely of water.

Jeanette let go of Simon and took a few steps back, breaking through one of the water tentacles.

Now they slowly formed a circle around Simon, who was standing there, staring at the things waving around slowly.

For some reason, he wasn't scared at the strange sight. He was... intrigued. The tentacles were just staying there.

Swaying softly, as if they were staring at Simon, waiting for a _command._

Simon slowly raised his paw, and reached it out.

Several of the tentacles slowly reached forward and encircled Simon's paw. Twirling tiny jets of water around his fingers.

Simon stared in awe. And then, he made a sudden flicking motion with his hand.

The tentacles obeyed. They snapped and lashed out into the air. Making a loud _crack._

Brittany and Eleanor screamed. While the rest of the group watched in awe.

Simon glanced over at the two chipettes standing next to each other. He grinned and reached his paw towards them.

The tentacles of water obeyed again and slowly glided across the pond, towards Brittany and Eleanor.

The chipettes screamed as the tentacles slowly began to wrap around them in its watery embrace. Ever since Eleanor's dream and Brittany's close encounter with the monster, they absolutely hated tentacles. And this wasn't helping.

"S-S-Simon... whatever you're d-doing...st-stop it." Brittany stuttered as she stared at the tentacles. She was trembling uncontrollably as one of the tentacles neared her face.

"Sorry Brittany." Simon said as he retracted his paw, the tentacles of water splashed down into the pond. All that remained were small waves reflected on the crystalline surface. Nothing more.

"Wow Simon, it looks like you discovered your power." Jeanette said in awe as she stared at her counterpart.

Simon looked over at her and grinned, "Yea, I guess I did."

"And it wasn't during combat this time." Vayle pointed out.

As if on cue, the group suddenly heard a screech. They spun their heads as they spotted something emerge from the trees.

A giant bat was flying at full speed directly towards Simon, baring its demon-like fangs.

It was too fast; nobody had time to react, any idea that some surprise anger-induced power could be activated was completely out of their minds...

The bat's razor sharp claws were merely a hair from Simon's throat...-

_BANG_!

A blinding flash of blue light rang throughout the clearing, and the large bat dropped into the pond at Simon's feet, lying utterly still.

The forest was silent. No sound was heard anywhere.

Slowly, Simon lowered his arms and looked down at the dead bat, blood trickling from its head.

The group was still in shock, thinking that they were bound to lose Simon for good. But now the bat that lay at his feet said otherwise.

"You have no idea how close that was."

The eight chipmunks suddenly spun around at the voice.

A completely white furred chipette stood at the pond's edge, staring at the group, smiling.

They looked upon the chipette in surprise. She was wearing a simple pink shirt and pink leather jacket while her skirt was light blue. And her eyes were... well, one was a cat-yellow while the other was an electric blue.

She looked like a ghost with clothes on in the dark night.

"Who are you?" Alvin asked in surprise as he stared at the chipette in awe.

"The name's Vittoria, who I am, is not important for the moment. For now, we need to get you guys to safety." the white chipette explained to the group of eight who were just staring at her, still in shock.

"You just saved Simon, why?" Jeanette asked the strange chipette.

Vittoria looked at Jeanette, "You guys have allies too you know, a small amount albeit."

"Oh, I see." Jeanette said.

"Alright guys, come with me. You need to get out of this forest, and I understand you are trying to leave California?" Vittoria asked the chipmunks curiously.

"Yea, how did you know that?" Alvin asked.

"Doesn't matter. Just come with me, I can help you. And I know the way out of here."

The group glanced at each other suspiciously. They didn't know this chipette at all, but they figured they had no choice.

They silently followed Vittoria through the dark forest. One question plaguing their minds...

_What now?_

* * *

><p>Little did the group know, they were being watched by someone.<p>

A pair of bright pink eyes suddenly flashed open in the dark forest.

_"Vittoria, dear Vittoria, who are you..."_

The figure spoke to himself as he watched the albino looking chipette lead the group through the dark forest.

_"Your intentions – they may seem for the better, but I will be watching you..."_

And with that, the bright pink eyes disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Short chapter I know...but it is merely to prepare you for the next one.<strong>_

_**Can you guess what other AATC story the name Vittoria is heard?**_

___**I'll give you a hint, 'Voted best AATC story of August 2010'**_

__**I look forward to your reviews my friends...**

**Haven to the Light (BusyLovingChipmunks)  
><strong>


	8. Know Your True Friends

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 8 - Know Your True Friends  
><strong>

**_My inspiration for this chapter comes from Winddragon Eternal's story, 'The Darkness Comes', chapter 5. _**

**_Thank you for your excellent story. =)_**

**_...Enjoy_  
><strong>

* * *

><p>The forest was utterly silent in the early hours of the morning.<p>

It was morning but still dark enough to where no birds had awoken yet. Strangely, not even any owls seemed to be on the hunt this particular night.

The moonlight shone down brightly onto the trees, it's beautiful hue slicing through the branches, casting scattered portions of light on the group of nine chipmunks walking through the forest.

Vittoria's pink-clad arm suddenly shot out in front of Alvin, stopping him in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" The red-clad chipmunk asked curiously.

"Thought I heard something," The white chipette replied as her yellow and blue eyes carefully scanned the dark forest.

Though she spotted nothing. "False alarm," she said as she retracted her arm and kept walking.

Theodore and Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief as they followed closely behind Alvin and Vittoria, who were walking side by side.

The silence played out as the group quietly weaved through bushes and branches. But Brittany decided it was time to ask.

"Where exactly are you taking us, Vittoria?"

The white chipette glanced back at Brittany before pointing ahead. "There."

Brittany's eyes followed where Vittoria was pointing. It was the end of the treeline.

The forest stopped, and led directly onto a highway weaving through the trees.

The chipmunks gasped as they spotted this, civilization sounded quite well to them, they had been in the dark, frightening forest for too long.

Vittoria smiled as they finally broke through the treeline, and stepped onto a field of grass.

The chipmunks immediately dropped to the ground, exhausted from so much walking.

All their tiny bodies wanted to do now, was rest in the soft grasses.

"Come on guys, you gotta get up. We're almost there." Vittoria said to them, they all groaned.

"Just a couple minutes?" Theodore yawned as he closed his eyes and nestled his head into Eleanor's shoulder, who was laying next to him.

"No guys I'm sorry, who knows what demon could still pop out of those trees again?" Vittoria said as she stared at them incredulously.

This made Simon and Brittany rise to their feet, rather quickly. "She's right guys, we got to move!" Brittany said as she reached down and pulled Jeanette to her feet.

"Hold on a second, before we do anything. Vittoria, you never told us who you are. How do you know about us? And how did you get that power of yours?" Alvin questioned the white chipette as he pushed himself up to stare at her.

"Come on guys, we really do have to go." Vittoria practically pleaded with them.

"No, I want to know. Now." Alvin said as he stomped his foot and folded his arms. He wasn't going to budge.

Vittoria sighed and addressed the whole group as she spoke.

"Kharos, the owl, he sent me. He gave me my powers. That's all you need to know for now, because the rest is a long story."

"The owl's name is Kharos?" Jeanette asked curiously.

Vittoria nodded. Alvin spoke up, "Alright fine, let's go."

He walked over and helped Ether and Vayle to their feet as the group started to walk towards the road.

They stopped at the pavement, and stared at it.

"What now?" Simon asked Vittoria. Everybody's heads turned to face her.

"We wait," she replied simply.

"For what?" Brittany retorted.

"For a car, obviously."

"We can't hitchhike!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Brittany shut up after that. She folded her arms and looked away.

Jeanette suddenly cut in. "How is a car going to see a group of tiny chipmunks in the middle of the night?"

Vittoria watched the bend in the road as she spotted headlights coming around it.

"They don't have to _see_ us, watch."

Vittoria waited for a few seconds, and right when the car was about thirty feet away, she raised her white paw up, aiming at the car, and a blinding flash of blue light shot out of her paw.

The beam flew through the air and slammed into the front of the car.

The vehicle was immediately basked in an aura of blue light as the beam took over it's motor functions.

The cars brakes slammed and it's wheels skidded across the road for thirty feet until finally, it came to a smoky halt, right in front of the chipmunks.

"Wow! Vittoria that was amazing!" Alvin exclaimed as he stared at the car in surprise.

But Jeanette was not impressed, "What about the person inside? You could have hurt them!"

Vittoria waved Jeanette off, "Don't worry they'll be fine. I'll go take care of it."

The white chipmunk hopped around the car and jumped onto the window, which was open.

Sitting in the front seat, was a man with dark hair, his hands were clamped tightly onto the steering wheel as he stared ahead in shock.

He yelled out in fright as he spotted the white chipette on the window.

Vittoria quickly raised a gleaming blue paw, the man stared into it's bright light and his face immediately became expressionless.

"Good, calm. Nothing to worry about." Vittoria cooed softly to the man as he loosened his grip on the car's steering wheel.

"Now, I want you to drive to the airport. Don't stop for anything, just drive there, and make it fast." Vittoria ordered the man.

He slowly nodded noiselessly, as if in a trance.

Vittoria, satisfied, hopped off the window and around the other side of the car where the group was waiting for her.

"He's going to drive you guys to the airport." She told them simply.

But the group looked stunned. "You got him to say yes?" Simon asked incredulously.

"Pretty much." Vittoria shrugged.

"Alright...what do we do?" Alvin asked the white chipette, as he folded his arms.

"Chicago, that's where you're to go. Kharos wants you guys to go to Chicago." Vittoria explained to them.

They all looked completely surprised. "Why Chicago?" Vayle finally asked.

"Hey, I don't ask the questions."

Brittany rolled her eyes, "So you just want us to fly off to some random city almost across the country? Am I right?"

"Yea that's the idea." Vittoria shrugged again.

Brittany grinned, "Let's do it!"

"Alright perfect, you better get going too. You don't have much time." Vittoria told them as she walked up to the car's backseat door, and gave it a smack.

Blue light shot into it as it popped open for the chipmunks to enter.

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Alvin asked in surprise.

"Nope, I have to be elsewhere. But I promise, we'll meet again!" Vittoria said as she unexpectedly slammed the door closed right as the last chipette, Ether hopped into the car.

As soon as the door closed, the car started driving. The man didn't turn around. He just kept his eyes on the road, completely silent.

The chipmunks quickly hopped up and looked out the windows of the car, trying to spot the easily visible white chipette.

But she was gone.

* * *

><p>The car abruptly halted in front of the airport.<p>

"Uh, thanks." Jeanette slowly said to the man, he hadn't spoke one word the entire thirty minute drive.

He slowly turned around, and gave a quick nod before turning back around. Jeanette and the rest of the group hopped out of the car and stepped foot onto the concrete floor of the airport parking lot.

As soon as Alvin pushed the door closed, the car sped off, leaving behind smoke from the burnout.

The group automatically started coughing from the gases, "How rude!" Brittany exclaimed in annoyance.

"Well guys, let's do this." Simon spoke up as he started walking forward, limping onto his walking stick with every step.

The group followed him into the doors of the airport.

It was almost completely empty at this time, though there were currently many planes in the loading holds, the airport was occupied by only a handful of people walking around.

Luckily for the chipmunks though, as their plan was to stay _incognito_.

Simon limped over to giant electric sign, which displayed all the departure and arrival times for the planes and their destinations.

Simon carefully scanned through the many schedules until he spotted what he was looking for.

CHICAGO, IL - 5:20 AM

"Guys I found it, and we got only about five minutes to get there." Simon told them, but then recalled what he said.

"Five minutes?" Brittany yelled in a whisper.

The group of chipmunks immediately took off, the left wing of the airport was where Simon said they needed to go.

Because of Simon's aching chest, Alvin and Vayle had to help him along so he didn't slow them down.

They reached the loading entrance but spotted an attendant standing at a desk right next to the doorway.

Brittany thought quickly, she spotted another desk a few feet away from the attendant, it had a stack of papers on it.

Brittany concentrated her thoughts, she reached her paw out, and willed the fire to flow through the air.

The stack of papers suddenly burst into flames. The attendant noticed the flames and in a panic, ran over to the desk and began swatting at the papers with her sleeve.

The chipmunks took their chance. They made a dash for the loading door, and as quick as a flash, they were inside the entryway of the plane.

Alvin peeked around the corner and looked into the plane, they were in the middle section of it.

He noticed a flight attendant walking around the seats, tending to the few passengers on the plane.

Alvin watched carefully as the flight attendant retreated to the front of the plane, probably for a break.

And leading the group, he took a chance, he hopped out onto the plane, quietly dashing under rows of seats.

Staying in the shadows and being careful not to be spotted.

The group finally made it to the last section of the plane - the back seats.

They noticed for some reason, nobody was in here. This plane barely had anybody in it anyway and they had the whole section to themselves.

The group sighed in relief as they climbed into the soft, red seats. They split into two groups of four, sitting across from each other. Each seat was occupied by two chipmunks.

"_We will be taking off shortly, all doors and entries are being closed now. Please get seated and comfortable, thank you."_

The chipmunks heard the voice over the loud speaker of the plane.

Then spotted one of the flight attendants walking down the hall towards their section.

"Get down!" Alvin whispered to them. The group all ducked their heads.

The attendant walked up to the doorway, glanced inside the section, and closed the door.

The chipmunks sighed in relief as they lifted their heads back up.

"Close one guys." Brittany laughed.

"Yea...what do we do now?" Ether curiously asked everybody.

"Well Ether, we got a long flight ahead of us. And it's been a really long night. Let's just try to get some sleep." Jeanette suggested as she snuggled further into the seat she was sharing with Simon.

Everybody nodded, they liked the sound of sleep right now. A good dream should help calm their minds.

And while everybody else quietly snuggled down in their seats and dozed off, Alvin stayed very wide awake.

There was no way he was going to sleep this time. He looked down at the pink/black-clad form of Brittany quietly laying against his shoulder.

Her breaths were slowing into a peaceful, slumber-induced harmony. Alvin stared at her lovingly.

He gently stroked her soft, furry cheek. Brittany made a small twitch but her eyes didn't open.

She merely smiled and nestled into him deeper. Alvin was enjoying it a little too much to even think about going to sleep.

There was simply no way he was going to risk returning to Brittany's evil self. He didn't want to see that Brittany ever again...

Eleanor's eyes fluttered softly as Dreamhaven took her in it's warm embrace.

* * *

><p>Her body slowly drifted through darkness.<p>

Although it was not the evil darkness everybody would normally assume.

It was a peaceful darkness. Eleanor's dream seemed to be a happy one this time.

She was alone, walking on a beach. The sun was shining brightly on her soft, blonde fur.

She was enjoying the warm heat and the beautiful sight of the ocean and crashing waves right next to her.

She stopped to wiggle her toes around in the sand, it was enjoyable to her. She smiled.

But for an unknown reason, Eleanor had the sudden urge to turn around.

And as she did so, she gasped at the sight before her lime-green eyes.

A cliff, a monumentally large cliff towered thousands of feet above her. She almost couldn't see the top of it.

She was intrigued by this sight, it was scary but she found it strange and interesting.

And with the curiosity of a cat. She walked forward. In mere seconds, she was face to face with the enormous cliff wall.

She stared at it's blank, emptiness, not sure what to do.

But she suddenly remembered something, she looked down at her paw. And suddenly felt warmth run through it.

She reached forward and softly placed her paw on the rocky cliff wall.

And as if a button was triggered somewhere, the wall slowly began to tumble apart, in the shape of rocky bricks.

It broke away into thousands of the small rocks until a perfectly round opening was made in the cliff wall.

Eleanor, without hesitation, walked forward into the wall opening.

It was dark, she couldn't see anything forward. And right as she turned around and was about to go back out to the beach...

The wall crashed down. The rocks falling onto each other until forming the barrier again.

Eleanor was trapped, and she couldn't see a thing.

Now Eleanor was scared, she hated the dark. And she couldn't see anywhere. It was like she was trapped inside the cliff.

Until suddenly, a light appeared.

Quickly, Eleanor ran towards the bright light.

As soon as she reached out for it, she tumbled forward, and smashed face-first right into the ground.

She lay still for several moments, in shock from the pain.

And slowly, she pushed herself up from the ground. Standing up and looking around, Eleanor gasped.

She was standing in the middle of a halo of flowers. In a clearing of soft, green grass.

But the strange thing was, outside of the beautiful halo, was a forest, but every single tree looked dead, leafless and bare.

But as Eleanor took in this strange sight, she noticed something else, there was no moon in the dark night.

She stared up at the empty, blank sky. Eleanor wanted to cry.

_"No, No, not this again-"_

_BANG!_

Eleanor was interrupted as she was blinded by a deafening flash of light.

She screamed and covered her face with her arms. The sky looked like it had just exploded.

After several moments of silence, Eleanor slowly lowered her arms and glanced up at the sky, and gasped again.

Where only moments earlier, the sky was empty and blank - there was now a moon in the sky, bright blue in colour.

Eleanor stared at the moon in awe. It was an amazing sight.

"Impressive isn't it?"

Eleanor jumped in surprise at the sudden voice behind her.

She whipped around and immediately spotted it's source.

A chipmunk was standing there, merely a few feet from her.

He was black-clad with a trench coat that hung down to his knees. His brown mahogany fur reflected the blue moonlight perfectly.

Eleanor stared into his deep green eyes, almost the same colour as Theodore's.

But the strangest part about the chipmunk was that for some reason, he closely resembled a wolf. His face, the way his fur stuck out, and his eyes. It just gave him the intriguing appearance of a chipmunk-sized wolf who knew how to stand on his hind legs.

"Who are you?" Eleanor asked the chipmunk curiously.

"I was about to ask you the same question," he replied simply.

"Well, I-I'm Eleanor," the chipette nervously spoke.

The black-clad chipmunk took a few steps toward Eleanor, holding out his paw. "Nice to meet you Eleanor, I'm Phelan."

"Nice to meet you, Phelan." Eleanor replied nervously as she took his paw in hers.

The chipmunk slowly lowered his head down to Eleanor's paw and gave it a kiss. Eleanor giggled.

"Now can you tell me, what a beautiful chipette like yourself, is doing in a place like this?" Phelan asked Eleanor curiously as he looked into her eyes.

"I'm not really sure, random things happen in dreams right? But...what is this place anyway?" Eleanor asked as she looked around at the flowers.

"It's a halo of flowers, what else would it be?" Phelan asked Eleanor as he lightly chuckled.

"I don't know...it just seems familiar, but then again not at all. It's weird but I just thought this place might have some deep meaning behind it." Eleanor quickly explained, realizing she was sounding crazy.

"Ah don't worry Eleanor, it's just a normal flower halo in the middle of a dead forest. You over think things too much." Phelan told her in a sweet voice.

But for some reason Eleanor wasn't sure of, she caught something in that voice. Something she didn't like.

"So, um. Phelan, what are you doing here?" Eleanor slowly asked the black-clad chipmunk as he stared up at the blue moon, it's light glinting in his green eyes.

He smiled back down at Eleanor as he answered. "I guess you can call me a warning."

The atmosphere in the halo suddenly shifted. Eleanor felt something, something very not right.

"Wh-what? What do you mean?" Eleanor asked the chipmunk, she was frightened at his dark tone.

"I'm here to warn. You, your family, your friends, you're all going to die you know..." Phelan smiled down at Eleanor, waiting for her response.

Eleanor looked into his eyes in fear. She didn't like where this was going. "Why are you talking like this?"

Phelan rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Eleanor, you guys can't win this battle. You don't even know the gravity of the events that will soon fall upon you all. It will change the course of existence. And you will fail."

Eleanor was getting more scared. The seemingly nice chipmunk she was just having a simple conversation with, had now turned hostile and was telling her that her family and friends were going to die.

"Shut up! I don't know who or what you are but you just shut up!" Eleanor screamed at Phelan. She was frightened and angry. And didn't want to deal with this.

"My dear Eleanor, do not be angry, I only speak the truth. Perhaps you would like to rest? You seem tired." Phelan spoke to her in a sweet voice, but Eleanor knew it was tainted.

"I don't want to rest, I want to get out of here!" Eleanor yelled at the chipmunk as she looked around her, looking for some way of escape from the forest.

Nothing, as far as she could see, the dead trees stretched on forever, it was just her, Phelan, and the halo of flowers in this empty world.

"Come on Eleanor, are you sure you don't want to just..._sleep?_" Phelan's words were tainted with evil.

Eleanor watched in horror as his shining mahogany fur slowly disintegrated away. His body was now covered in completely black fur, more black than Vayle's.

His green eyes melted from their usual beautiful colour, to a deep, blood-red.

The demon chipmunk took a few steps toward Eleanor as he held his arm out to his side, Eleanor watched as a blade of dark black flames formed around his paw.

"You c-can't hurt m-me here, it's j-just a dream." Eleanor stuttered in fright as she slowly backed away from the now evil looking chipmunk.

Phelan chuckled darkly as he smirked at Eleanor's fear. "_A dream within a dream Eleanor, you can feel pain_."

Eleanor screamed in terror as Phelan suddenly lunged at her with his dark blade of flames.

She thought her world was going to end, she prepared herself for it. But it never came.

"_Aargh! What the hell?" _Came Phelan's roars of anger as his body was thrown into the air and crashed into the ground, far away from Eleanor.

Eleanor turned and gasped. Standing next to her was a beast, a monster, at least forty times her size. She had never seen anything like it, anything more frightening.

It looked somewhat like a bird, while at the same time it looked like a wolf, and some strange alien. It was completely black in feather, fur, and scales.

The giant beast was a mix of many creatures.

But Eleanor barely had time to examine it. Because Phelan was rising to his feet. He was angry now.

"_You! I thought you were trapped forever in the Sanctum!" _Phelan roared at the beast standing there.

The beast did not speak. Instead, it's words rang through Eleanor's mind.

"_You are a fool my apprentice, you will never accept that you will not rise again."_

Phelan screamed in anger as he launched himself onto the ground, and on all fours, took off running straight for the giant beast.

He growled like a feral wolf, his sharp fang-like teeth bared.

As soon as he was close enough, he launched himself into the air at the giant monster, his trench coat flapping behind him.

But with unrealistic and unexpected speed. The monster launched itself into the air as well. Except it flew much higher than Phelan.

It's talons clamped down onto the chipmunk and swiftly slammed him into the ground, the force of the blast knocked Eleanor off her feet.

She looked up in fear at the giant monster pinning Phelan to the ground.

Eleanor gasped as she stared into the bright pink eyes of the monster.

_"Go Eleanor! Now! If you stay here you will die!"_ The beast roared at the small chipette through her thoughts.

Eleanor scrambled to her feet, she spun around and took off running towards the treeline. But a sudden voice stopped her.

"_Yea Eleanor, run. I will be waiting for next time my dear. Run."_

Eleanor slowly turned around and looked at Phelan, he grinned as Eleanor stared deep into his blood-red eyes.

Finally, she broke away. She turned around and ran, as soon as she hopped over the barrier of flowers, her eyes flashed white.

* * *

><p>Eleanor slowly sat up in the seat of the plane. She rubbed her tired eyes and glanced around, noticing Theodore curled up in a ball next to her.<p>

She then glanced up over at Alvin, he was looking away out the window. Eleanor decided not to bother him.

She wasn't sure why she woke up but when she tried to go back to sleep, she couldn't.

Something was plaguing her mind. A dream.

She had a dream. But why couldn't she remember it?

Eleanor tried as hard as she could to recall the strange dream, but she couldn't remember a thing...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Will Eleanor be able to remember her dream?<strong>_

Foolish Eleanor

Escape me once, shame on you...

Escape me twice...Haha, twice?

_**I would like to thank Winddragon Eternal for allowing me the honour of using his OC, Phelan, in my story. Thanks dude, it means a lot.**_

_**Please go check out his story 'The Darkness Comes' where Phelan's epic tale is written. It is truly an excellent story.**_

_**This is the first time I've posted a new chapter the very next day. Maybe you guys can be grateful because I worked extremely hard. Please review. =)  
><strong>_

**The Evil will soon truly rise, and the chipmunks better be ready to fight...**

**Haven to the other side (BusyLovingChipmunks)**


	9. Welcome to Chicago

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 9 -Welcome to Chicago**

**_The chipmunks have landed..._  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Get up Eleanor!"<p>

The green-clad chipette slowly peeked her furry eyelids open groggily.

Jeanette was continuously shaking her back and forth. Trying to wake her.

"OK! Jeanette I'm up, I'm up!" Eleanor laughed as she stood up in the seat of the plane.

"We have to leave, everybody is almost off the plane!" Jeanette frantically told her sister.

Eleanor's eyes shot open further as she realized Jeanette's words. "What? We're in Chicago already?"

Jeanette rolled her eyes. "It was only a six-hour flight Eleanor."

"Oh...well let's go then!" Eleanor said as she hopped off the seat and ran down the walkway of the plane, exiting the back section and finally making it to the plane's docking exit.

"It's about time you guys got here!" Brittany said to Eleanor and Jeanette as they approached the group's hiding place next to the plane exit.

"Sorry Britt, I guess I didn't sleep well." Eleanor said guiltily.

"You neither?" Alvin asked curiously. Eleanor nodded.

"Guys forget about it for now, we gotta get out of here before they come back to close the doors!" Vayle frantically told them.

"Alright, alright. You're right...let's go." Alvin said as he darted out from cover, sliding up to the corner of the plane exit. He peeked his head around the wall, the exit hallway was clear.

"Clear!" He motioned the group to follow as he jumped around the corner and ran. Clearing the hallway distance in a couple seconds, Alvin was very fast.

The group finally caught up to him at the airport entrance. He was looking around the corner again.

"Whoa! We're at the Chicago O'Hare! This is like, the most famous airport in America!" Simon exclaimed in wonder.

Everybody stopped to look at the blue-clad chipmunk. "You recognize airports?" Brittany asked, stifling a laugh.

Simon just rolled his eyes, "Whatever, let's just go."

"Easier said than done bro, there's people _everywhere._" Alvin said as he looked around. There were literally hundreds of people flaunting around in the airport.

"Well Alvin, that could mean two things: Easier to be seen, or harder to be seen?" Ether asked him curiously.

Alvin licked his lips in anticipation. "Second one!" The red-clad chipmunk said as he jumped out in the crowds of people walking in every direction.

The group groaned in annoyance as they too jumped out into the crowds, following close behind Alvin.

They were all busy concentrating on not being crushed by a random shoe. Much harder than it sounds.

Seeing as there were hundreds of feet coming from every direction. But the chipmunks managed to scurry around without injury.

Miraculously, nobody was spotting them. Everybody was too self-absorbed or busy to notice the tiny, ten-inch chipmunks darting between their feet.

Finally, Alvin managed to safely lead the group to an airport exit. They had to quickly hide behind a nearby trash can and wait for someone to come activate the motion sensor on the door.

They quickly darted out of the open door as a man approached it. The group of chipmunks had finally made it out of the airport.

They were now in the massive, glorious city of Chicago...

"What now?" Theodore asked, suddenly sounding worried.

"Well Theo, what's say we let Fate guide us?" Alvin said as he eyed a tour bus loading up people, only about thirty-feet away. Alvin ran for it.

"I hate it when he does that!" Simon groaned as they all ran after Alvin.

The group finally caught up to the red-clad chipmunk. He was stopped near the back of the bus. Next to the luggage hold.

"Come on guys, the dude's on the other side! Get in!" Alvin whispered to them, motioning inside the luggage hold.

Brittany took one glance at it, then back at Alvin. "You can't be serious..."

"Course I'm serious Britt! Now get in!" Alvin laughed as he hopped into the compartment, motioning the group to follow him.

They heard the loading manager walking around to the side where they were standing. "Get in, hurry!" Alvin frantically whispered.

"Oh what the heck." Simon said, giving up. The group quickly hopped in the hold alongside Alvin.

"Come on guys get in the back!" Brittany whispered as she saw the manager's feet step into view.

The chipmunks retreated into the back of the luggage hold, avoiding being seen. After a couple moments they were basked in darkness as the manager closed the door on the hold.

"Uh guys, it's dark." Theodore said fearfully.

"Yea, I d-don't like the dark." Eleanor quietly agreed.

"Calm down guys, I'll handle it." Brittany spoke through the blackness.

Suddenly, a bright orange light burst into existence in the dark luggage hold.

"Voilà!" Brittany exclaimed as she stared in wonder at her luminescent, flaming paw.

"That's always amazing Brittany." Simon remarked as he stared at the flames.

The group was illuminated in the darkness, there were luggage bags and backpacks all around them.

"Hey Simon, I just noticed. You're not using your walking stick anymore!" Brittany said as she looked at blue-clad chipmunk.

"Yea, I was feeling better when I woke up so I ditched it," he replied in a 'matter-of-fact' tone.

The chipmunks decided to sit down, in the busy downtown streets of Chicago in a bus...this was likely going to be a long ride.

"So guys, what's the plan now?" Jeanette finally spoke up.

"Not sure Jen, apparently the owl wanted us to come here. But why?" Alvin asked curiously.

Simon rolled his eyes. "It's obvious Alvin, this is one of the largest cities on the planet. He thinks we have a better chance of not being found here. And I don't think any demons are gonna go walking right up to us in the middle of the city."

"Good point Simon, we should probably just fit in for now. Blend with the crowd?" Vayle suggested.

"Yea, we should probably find a place to stay, a hotel perhaps?" Simon said, looking around for approval.

"Good idea Simon, but there's tons of hotels everywhere! Which should we go to?" Jeanette questioned curiously.

Jeanette's question was answered as the bus suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

The group quickly stood up in the luggage hold, they heard many voices, and the sound of the door being unlatched.

"Brittany put the fire out!" Alvin whispered as he watched the door.

Brittany flicked her paw and the flames slowly died away, basking them in darkness for a moment. Then the luggage door opened.

The chipmunks quickly crouched down behind one of the suitcases. The manager was unloading bags to certain people.

Alvin peeked around the suitcase and spotted their opportunity, the manager had his back turned momentarily as he handed bags to people standing there.

Alvin was one to take chances, so...he took his chance. "Come on!" The red-clad chipmunk whispered as he hopped out from behind the suitcase and jumped out of the luggage hold, the rest followed him quickly. They all stealthily jumped out and hid behind one of the bus tires so the bystanders didn't spot them.

They patiently waited until the manager was finished unloading, and he walked back into the bus. The chipmunks saw the bus tire moving so they quickly hopped out of the way. But now they were in the middle of the street.

"RUN! Dodge the cars!" Alvin yelled as he thought fast and darted across the street like crazy. The group followed him into the oncoming traffic, nimbly and barely, dodging the multiple cars speeding by them.

They finally made it to the other side, reaching the curb, and dropping down next to it, panting from exhaustion.

After several moments of rest, the group finally sat up and looked around, and gasped.

They were sitting in front of a massive building, their heads slowly took it in, looking down - all the way up to the sky.

"Whoa..." The chipmunks all said in unison. The sky-scraper before them was easily over a thousand feet high, they could barely see the top of it. It was covered completely in solid glass that reflected the afternoon sky.

"Guys...we're at the Trump International Hotel & Tower!" Simon exclaimed in wonder, again.

"Well, we said we wanted a hotel...why not have one of the biggest in the world?" Jeanette said with a grin.

Wide smiles were spread over all the chipmunks' faces. "Let's go!" Alvin said as he shot forward up the steps, running straight for the entrance.

And as always, the group followed right behind him. "Come on guys! Help me push open this revolver door!" Alvin said as he pushed with all his might against the glass door.

The group rushed forward and pushed along with him, with their combined strength, they got it open. And tumbled into the building.

They all gasped again as they looked around at the stunning front lobby. It was absolutely beautiful.

But they were cut short as they spotted one of the hotel assistants walking around, nearby.

Simon thought quick and looked around, spotting an elevator. "Come on guys let's make a run for it!"

And they took off across the floor towards the elevator, darting behind cover of plants and furniture spread out in the lobby.

Finally, they made it to the elevator doors. Simon jumped up and pushed the UP button. They then quickly hid behind a nearby trash can, waiting for the elevator to reach the bottom floor.

After about a minute of waiting. The doors finally opened, the chipmunks looked around. Spotting nobody nearby, they hopped into the elevator.

Simon jumped up again and pushed the 'door close' button. The group stopped and stared at the elevator panel in awe. There were a hundred buttons on it.

"Alright...Theodore, Ether. I'm thinking of a number, one to a hundred. What's my number?" Simon asked the two chipmunks.

"Seven!"

"Seventy-Seven"

"Ether, you're closer. Seventy-Seven it is!" Simon said as he jumped up, pressing the panel button labeled '77'.

"Whoa this thing is fast!" Brittany said as the elevator quickly rose up the tower.

After a short wait, they finally heard a 'beep' as the elevator slowly came to a stop.

The group jumped behind the elevator doors as they peeked out into the hallway. All clear.

Brittany motioned them to follow as she led this time. They quickly ran through the hallway, looking for a room they could get into.

"This one!" Eleanor suddenly said as she spotted a door with a 'Unoccupied' sign around it's handle.

The group stopped at the door and examined it. "Hmm...Eleanor, jump through the mail slot right there and unlock it for us." Simon said to the lime-green chipette.

Eleanor folded her arms and shook her head. "Nope."

Brittany and Jeanette burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Simon asked curiously.

But the two chipettes were rolling on top of each other on the floor in laughter.

"Guys what so funny?" Simon shouted at them. They finally stopped laughing and picked themselves up from the floor.

"Sorry Simon, it's just that. Last time Eleanor was told to go through a mail slot like this, she got stuck!" Brittany said as she wiped a tear of laughter from her eye. Jeanette chuckled silently.

Eleanor just frowned at them. 'It wasn't funny! Stupid Ian was such a jerk!"

Ether walked up to Eleanor and placed a paw on her shoulder. "Don't worry Ellie, I'll open the door."

And with that, the black-furred chipette hopped up into the mail slot. The group watched as they heard a clicking sound, and the door popped open.

"Good job Ether!" Alvin said as they all walked into the room. Brittany grabbed the sign on the door handle and closed the door.

Vayle jumped up and flicked on the lights..."Whoa!" Came the cries of the chipmunks as they gazed at the giant, wonderful room they were standing in.

The room they were in was not a hotel guest room as they thought, it was a suite. An enormous and beautiful one at that.

To the left, there was a stunning, marble-counter kitchen with mahogany-brown oak wood shelves. To the right, there was the massive living room, with red velvet couches and a forty-two inch plasma screen TV.

While right in the middle, was the main room. Two black and green double-queen beds sat in the middle of the room, while at the other end was the wall, there was two enormous ten-foot tall, floor-to-ceiling windows standing there proudly. Altogether...Amazing.

"Wow...this place is really great huh?" Theodore said as they all walked forward, admiring every detail of the beautiful room.

The rest of the chipmunks slowly nodded their heads. Still in shock.

Ether almost couldn't hold it in anymore.

"_I Love Chicago_!"

* * *

><p><em>Enjoy your precious moments of peace chipmunks...it will likely be your last ever.<em>

_Jeanette, you're next..._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Wow...that chapter was really, really hard to write. I spent over 4 hours of studying Chicago and the buildings and right places. Since I obviously don't live there...it was really hard to write.<em>**

**_And I still ended up flaunting it a little bit. Sorry guys, leave me a review on what you think and if I did anything wrong? Thanks. =)_**

**Haven to the City (BusyLovingChipmunks)**


	10. For The Moment

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 10 - For The Moment**

**_Let me know if you can spot my extremely vague story reference..._**

**And please remember to review...I'm getting over 20 readers every chapter yet barely 1 or 2 reviews if that. Please just post a quick comment...it really does help me. Thanks.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Guys I can see Lake Michigan from here!"<p>

"Uh yea Theodore, it's only like five-hundred feet away." Simon told the green-clad chipmunk who was pressed up against the large floor-to-wall window.

The chipmunks had already settled down in their suite. And they were now just relaxing from their tiring trip.

"I'm hungry..." Ether said suddenly as she hung upside down on the red chair next to the beds.

Simon eyed her curiously. "You're hungry in that position?"

Ether attempted to nod but it only ended up making her look funny. "Well, you get the point," she said with a laugh.

"I'm on it guys!" Brittany called from the kitchen.

"Uh, on second thought..." Ether started to say.

"Oh shut up! Eleanor's helping me." Brittany said as she folded her arms and gave the black-furred chipette a glare.

"Anyway...who wants to play a game?" Alvin asked everybody, hopping off the bed.

He spotted Vayle and Jeanette raise their hands from the living room. "Alright guys! Anybody else?"

"I'll play!" Theodore said excitedly as he pulled away from the window and hopped over next to Alvin.

"Me too!" Ether said as she flipped off the chair and landed on the floor, falling over herself in the process.

Alvin stifled a laugh as he addressed the group of four. "Alright guys, huddle up. We're gonna play 'Pillow Ambush Simon' okay? Only cause he didn't want to join us, now he's the target. Got it?" Alvin explained to the group with a grin.

"Got it!" They said in unison as they all rushed over to the beds to grab pillows.

They quietly sneaked behind Simon, who was leaning next to a wall, a book in his hands.

"NOW!" Alvin yelled as he jumped into the air, and forcefully smacked the pillow down on his brother.

"Aargh! Alvin you idiot!"

But right as the words left Simon's mouth, he was smacked across the face by Jeanette's pillow. He flew a good foot before crashing into the ground.

"Oh! Simon are you okay?" Jeanette asked worriedly. She ran up to Simon to make sure.

Simon rolled over laughing as he realized what happened. And right as Jeanette got close enough, he grabbed her ankle and yanked her down.

Jeanette yelped in surprise as she tumbled down and Simon grabbed the pillow from her. He jumped up and bashed her with her own pillow.

Jeanette was dazed for a moment before everybody laughed at her, she looked ridiculous as her glasses were crooked on her face, like she was wearing them sideways.

After that, the 'ambush' quickly turned into a full-scale pillow fight, everybody was laughing and playing along happily.

Until suddenly, Theodore got a little too excited with one hit, and smashed his pillow into Alvin. But as he did so, he felt an unnaturally powerful rush of wind follow the hit and crash into Alvin, sending the red-clad chipmunk flying across the room, and crashing into the wall. While knocking down the chipmunks around him.

Brittany and Eleanor peeked around the kitchen at the loud _crash_. "Alvin are you alright?" Brittany curiously asked as she spotted Alvin sitting against the wall, dazed.

"Uh, yea... Britt I'm fine. But Theo...that was amazing!" Alvin said laughing as he jumped up and ran to Theodore.

"How did you do that! That was crazy! I flew like ten feet!" Alvin said incredulously.

Brittany and Eleanor rolled their eyes as they returned to the kitchen.

"I-I'm not sure Alvin, it was the wind, I felt it follow me and hit you head on. But are you okay?" Theodore asked, concerned.

"Yea Theo I'm fine, but that was so cool! When do I get some awesome power like that?" Alvin said mostly to himself in wonder, imagining all the great powers he could have.

"Well I don't know, for most of us Alvin, the power things have turned on through emotion. So you have to wait until your heart tells you I guess." Theodore timidly explained to Alvin.

The red-clad chipmunk folded his arms in annoyance. "Yea but that could take forever!"

"Well you know what doesn't take forever? Dinner!" Brittany shouted excitedly as she and Eleanor carried plates to the kitchen table in the living room.

"Good job guys! That was quick!" Simon remarked as the group hopped up onto the kitchen table to eat.

"Yea we got it done fast!" Eleanor remarked as she helped Brittany situate the multiple plates of chicken nuggets and fries. They had found the food in the kitchen's fridge.

"This smells so good guys!" Theodore said eagerly as he stared at the delicious foods.

"Well...dig in!" Brittany said as she grabbed one of the fries and started scarfing it down.

The group enjoyed the delicious food in silence most of the time. They hadn't eaten in almost a whole day. They were starved.

After a few minutes, the plates were finally licked clean. The chipmunks just sat there happily for a few moments before Simon finally got up.

"Wait, guys sit down. I think we should discuss something." Alvin suddenly spoke up.

Simon glanced strangely at his brother for a moment. "Alright Alvin...what's on your mind?" Simon asked as he sat back down on the table.

Alvin checked to make sure everybody was listening before he continued. "Alright guys, I was just thinking, we're in Chicago, we're in a hotel. What do we do now?"

The group sat back and contemplated for a minute. "Well Alvin, there's not really much we can do. I think we're just supposed to sit back and protect ourselves." Jeanette said.

"Yea I thought that too...but I thought again. We are supposed to be fighting off these monsters that are coming after us right? So what...we just wait here until they magically disappear?" Alvin asked, laughing sarcastically.

"You've got a point Alvin, I don't think they're gonna just disappear on their own." Simon said as he scratched his chin.

"Yea if they don't actually come after us here...they'll probably just wait for the right moment...and snatch us up!" Brittany said, sudden fear edging into her voice.

"That means no matter what we do. We still have to face our fears sometime." Vayle suddenly spoke.

"Face my fears? Are you freaking serious? My fear better not come alive for me to face!" Alvin suddenly yelled, thinking of his nightmares.

"No, not what I meant. Our fear of facing the demons. We can't stay here forever. I think we have to fight them. Get it over with." Vayle explained carefully.

"Easy for you to say! You're the one who's gonna be sitting back like a duck no matter what we do!" Alvin angrily shouted at Vayle.

Vayle threw up his arms in defeat. "Sorry Alvin, I'm just saying. The sooner, the better."

Alvin rolled his eyes. "Right...so we should just suddenly run to these monsters and go on some slaughter-fest?"

"Well Alvin, we have these powers for a reason." Simon said as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.

But Alvin shoved it off. "Yea! To defend ourselves! Not running after trouble! Besides, me and Jeanette haven't even figured ours out yet!" Alvin argued back.

"STOP!"

Everybody suddenly turned to the black-furred chipette who had just yelled.

"Everybody cut it out! We don't need to be fighting like this!" Ether shouted at them. Anger in her bright-coloured eyes.

"Look, we're all worried and tired. Why don't we just get some sleep right now and talk about this tomorrow? Okay?" Ether pleaded with them.

Alvin and Simon glanced at each other before slowly nodding.

"Alright good, everybody. Let's clean this food up and lay down for the night." Ether said as she picked her plate up and hopped over to the sink.

The rest of the chipmunks sighed as they all cleaned up the food mess.

* * *

><p>"Alright guys I'm gonna go take a bath real quick." Jeanette told her sisters as she pulled her violet flower-bikini on.<p>

"Have fun." Brittany said absentmindedly.

"You wanna come Ellie?" Jeanette asked the lime-green chipette who was wrestling with Theodore on the bed. Jeanette laughed when she saw this.

"No I'm good Jeanette!" Eleanor replied as she laughed, Theodore was tickling her.

"Stop it! Not fair!" She cried as she tried to push him away.

Jeanette rolled her eyes playfully as she walked over to the bathroom door. She walked in and looked around, and gasped, the bathroom was huge.

"Wow..." Jeanette mouthed silently as she looked at the marble floor, the granite counters, the stainless steel sink, and the crystal-clear mirrors.

She then hopped over to the bathtub, and gasped again. It was a pebble-floor jacuzzi. Amazing.

Jeanette turned on the knob and adjusted the temperature to the perfect warmth.

She was waiting patiently for it to fill up when she heard a voice beside her.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Jeanette jumped in surprise, she was always being startled.

"Uh, yea Simon, sure." Jeanette said as she managed a smile, albeit she was panting.

Simon was already wearing swim shorts. Although there wasn't really a reason to. He was a chipmunk.

But he liked to pay attention to common decency.

"Waters ready." Jeanette said as she turned the knob off.

"Cool." Simon remarked as he walked over to the edge. He glanced at Jeanette, and saw her suddenly nervous.

The jacuzzi was at least three feet deep. "Come on Jeanette, it's alright. We can just stay sitting on the first step right here. It's only a few inches." Simon told her as he took her paw in his.

"A-Alright, Simon, if you say so." Jeanette said nervously.

He slowly stepped down into the warm waters, holding Jeanette's paw and helping her down.

She sighed as the warm jacuzzi waters washed over her. It was rather relaxing after such a long day.

The two chipmunks sat in the calm waters for a few minutes. Enjoying the comfortable silence.

"Hey Jeanette, wanna see something cool?" Simon suddenly asked.

"Yea sure Simon, what is it?" She asked curiously.

Simon grinned as he reached his paw up, suddenly, a jet of water burst out of the jacuzzi, and swirled around his paw.

Jeanette stared in awe, it was amazing. "Simon that's so cool!"

"I know, but watch this." Simon said with a chuckle, he directed his paw towards Jeanette's face.

The jet of water slowly swirled through the air towards the chipette's face, and it swirled there quietly, staring at Jeanette.

Suddenly, Simon flicked his finger, and the jet of water lashed forwards, and poked Jeanette in her pink nose.

"Simon!" Jeanette exclaimed in surprise as she grabbed her twitching nose.

Simon laughed, it was hilarious because she couldn't get it to stop twitching, the wetness was making it react like pepper.

"That was so mean!" Jeanette said, but she was also laughing.

"Sorry, it's just hilarious!" Simon laughed as Jeanette kept rubbing her tiny nose to get it to stop.

Jeanette suddenly grinned deviously, getting an idea.

She reached up and flicked Simon's left ear.

Simon gasped as he grabbed at his now uncontrollably twitching ear. "Jeanette! That wasn't fair!"

"Now we're even." Jeanette replied with a laugh.

Simon's ear was ringing so much it was twitching rapidly, he looked like Dumbo.

The two chipmunks both laughed heartily as they watched each other twitching.

* * *

><p>"Are you guys done yet?" Alvin asked as he poked his head into the bathroom after a half-hour.<p>

"Yea we're getting out now." Simon said as he helped Jeanette out of the jacuzzi. They grinned at each other.

Alvin rolled his eyes. "Lovebirds," he mumbled under his breath as he walked away.

Simon and Jeanette walked out of the bathroom together, everybody in the room was already laying down in their beds, getting ready to go to sleep.

The chipettes were all sharing a bed together while the chipmunks shared theirs next to them.

The two bespectacled chipmunks separated and went to their bedsides and changed into their pyjamas for the night.

Simon just changed back into his signature hoodie while Jeanette changed into her silky purple nightgown.

"Goodnight everybody!" Brittany said as she rolled over onto her stomach and shut her eyes.

Jeanette carefully climbed into the bed and laid down next to Ether. "Goodnight."

Everybody else then did their night ritual of saying goodnight to each other.

After about ten or fifteen, Alvin finally yelled. "Goodnight for everybody! There! Now sleep!"

The chipmunks laughed before they finally dozed off into the quiet night, letting Dreamhaven pull them close once more.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Enjoy your last few hours of rest...it will be your last.<strong>_

_**Now watch as your war now truly begins...as I unleash Hell upon you.**_

_**Jeanette...come to me...**_

* * *

><p>The purple-clad chipette slowly opened her bright violet eyes, although she was dazed from her blurry vision.<p>

She reached over onto the nightstand and grabbed around for her glasses until she finally clasped her paw around them and slid them onto her face.

She still couldn't see much as the hotel room was completely dark, save for the slight light coming in through the giant window from the downtown lights of Chicago.

Jeanette was completely clueless as to why...but for some reason, she just woke up.

She was confused, but even as she tried to go back to sleep, she was completely unable to.

Jeanette sighed in annoyance as she pushed herself into a sitting position, and looked around.

Ether was laying next to her, sound asleep. While Eleanor and Brittany were asleep right beside the black-furred chipette.

Jeanette looked upon the three chipettes in silence. Admiring how cute they looked sleeping peacefully like that.

She finally decided to go wash her face off in the bathroom, in hopes it would clear her head.

Jeanette carefully hopped off the bed and felt her way through the darkness over to the bathroom. Upon entering, she hopped up and clicked the light on.

She blinked her eyes in adjustment to the sudden bright light. And spotting the sink, she hopped up onto the counter, and turned the sink knob on.

Cold water started to flow out of it. Jeanette watched patiently as the water began to warm.

After a few seconds she reached down and splashed warm water onto her furry face. It was refreshing and helped her think better.

_Hmm...I wonder why I woke up-_

But Jeanette's thoughts were stopped abruptly as she finally looked up and glanced in the mirror right behind the sink.

Jeanette didn't gasp, she just stared in shock at the mirror. For it did not reflect what it should have.

The 'reflection' Jeanette was staring at was not her at all...it was Brittany.

Jeanette glanced behind her, nothing. It was only her in the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Although it would have normally been completely frightening to the purple-clad chipette...she was utterly calm.

"Brittany? Is that really you?" Jeanette asked the chipette she was staring at.

Jeanette continued to stare curiously, the Brittany mimicked Jeanette's every move. Her mouth moving when she spoke, a tail twitch, everything.

Jeanette slowly walked forward, and placed her paw on the cool glass. The mirror Brittany did the same.

"Brittany why are you in the mirror?" Jeanette asked curiously.

But right as she finished the question, Brittany blinked. And her previous ice-blue eyes, were now a dark blood-red.

"Who are you?" Jeanette asked, completely calm.

Brittany glared back at Jeanette, no longer mimicking her moves.

"You don't know your own sister?" Brittany asked, in a hissing voice that was very much not her own.

Jeanette was not frightened. "You're not Brittany. You're just some demon trying to scare me." Jeanette spoke slowly as she tilted her head to the side, staring deep into Brittany's blood-red pupils.

Brittany smiled evilly. "Is that so? Now you seem to be much smarter than Alvin..."

Jeanette stopped examining Brittany's eyes and then took note of what she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Alvin seemed to be tricked much easier...but you, you're a clever one. But you are not afraid only because you think I can't hurt you...you're wrong."

The mirror...shattered.

* * *

><p>The seven chipmunks asleep in the other room suddenly jolted awake as Jeanette's gut-wrenching scream pierced their ears.<p>

"JEANETTE!" Simon yelled as he jumped out of bed and sprinted towards the bathroom.

The rest of the group woke up quickly and followed him.

They hopped into the doorway and stopped dead in their tracks. The scene that was before them was absolutely frightening.

The lights of the bathroom were flickering rapidly, the mirror was laying on the bathroom floor, shattered into a hundred pieces.

Jeanette was lying in the middle of the pool of glass, twitching painfully.

"HELP!" She screamed as she jolted up. Eyes wide with confusion and fear.

"Jeanette what's wrong?" Brittany yelled at her sister as the group started to make their way towards her.

Jeanette didn't answer, she just sat there staring at Eleanor. Then she raised her finger.

"He's coming Ellie! RUN!"Jeanette suddenly screamed as she flopped back down on the floor, writhing around wildly.

The group was trying to make their way to Jeanette without cutting themselves on the sharp glass.

"Theodore! Can you try your power and blow this glass away so we can get to her?" Simon asked his brother next to him.

"Yea Simon I'll try!" Theodore said as he raised both his paws and pointed them at the glass.

He forced the energy to his hands, and willed the power to flow through him.

And suddenly, a massive gust of wind burst from his paws and blew the shards of glass to the other side of the large bathroom.

"Thanks Theo!" Simon said as he ran towards Jeanette.

"NO! STOP!" Jeanette suddenly screamed again as she flipped herself onto her feet.

The group gasped as they saw Jeanette's arms bursting with blue electricity. It was crackling loudly, the light bulbs of the bathroom flashed in tune to the crackling.

"Whoever you are! If you come any closer...I'll kill you!" Jeanette shouted at the group.

They stared at the purple-clad chipette in horror. One of her eyes were bright, electric-blue, while the other was a deep, blood-red.

"Jeanette what's happening to you?" Simon asked fearfully as he watched his love... threaten to kill him.

Jeanette ignored him, instead, she spotted Brittany, and screamed again, flopping back onto the floor, writhing around in what seemed to be unimaginable pain.

"Are you okay Jeanette?" Theodore asked, concerned as he walked towards her.

"GET AWAY!" Jeanette suddenly roared as she raised one of her electricity-filled paws and aimed it at Theodore.

A bright-blue bolt of lightning shot out of her paw and collided with Theodore in his chest.

Theodore yelped as he was thrown backwards and smashed into the bathroom wall.

"Theodore!" Simon and Eleanor cried at the same time as they rushed over to help him.

His body was completely limp, he was knocked out clean.

"Why did you do that?" Brittany screamed at Jeanette as the purple-clad chipette flopped back down on the ground and writhed in pain.

Jeanette suddenly went silent, she flipped on the ground back and forth like a fish thrown onto a boat. Her red and blue eyes tainted with confusion and pain.

She just moaned quietly as she suddenly went still.

"Jeanette what is it? What's hurting you?" Brittany shouted at her sister lying there.

Jeanette suddenly shot up again and jumped at Brittany, tackling her sister to the ground. Jeanette shoved her into the floor and stared into Brittany's eyes.

"You demon! I"ll kill you, you will leave Brittany ALONE!" Jeanette screamed at her sister.

Brittany stared back at her sister like she had went completely psychotic. "What are you tal-"

But Brittany was cut off as Jeanette shoved her back into the tile floor before jumping off her.

"I can't take it anymore! It hurts!" Jeanette burst out crying as she grabbed her ears and pulled them.

Brittany slowly rose to her feet as everybody else just stared at Jeanette, not sure what to do.

"Jeanette, please...you have to tell us what's wrong so we can help!" Brittany yelled at her crazy sister, tears forming in her eyes.

Jeanette turned back and stared at Brittany, then spoke in a frightened tone.

"Brittany...you know what true pain is. Don't you remember what that demon did to you?" Jeanette asked with a shaky finger pointed at Brittany's nose. And then to Alvin.

"Jeanette you're not making any sense!" Brittany shouted back.

"Right...alternate realities...hmm...I forget what freaking reality I'm in? Really?" Jeanette was now talking to herself.

The group just stared at her, too afraid to make a move after what they saw her do to Theodore.

"Well I don't care if he doesn't exist here! Or does he...Arrgh! It doesn't matter, I'm not going to allow that to happen to you Brittany...I'm sorry!" Jeanette said with a crazed chuckle as she walked over to the pile of glass and picked up one of the sharpest shards.

"Because you know what? I think you'd rather be dead than have your nightmare and fear come alive!" Jeanette turned around and glared into Brittany's eyes. Both of Jeanette's were now both a deep blood-red.

Brittany put her hands on her hips. "What's gonna happen to me? Huh? You're not gonna kill me Jeanette." Brittany said as she shook her head.

Jeanette giggled as she walked closer to her sister. She raised the shard of glass, her eyes glinted as she stared at Brittany's neck.

"NO!" Simon suddenly roared.

Everybody turned and stared at him. He ran forward and suddenly raised his paw up, and slammed it into the floor.

The group felt the floor rumble beneath them. The plumbing pipes beneath them were filled with water, and they were bursting...

Suddenly, everybody screamed as the ground broke open as the water from below crashed into the bathroom and flooded it in an instant.

The chipmunks were all forcefully pushed out in the main room as the water carried them.

They crashed into the floor as the water subsided as it filled the rest of the hotel room.

"Dangit Simon why'd you do that?" Alvin complained as he coughed up water.

"I had no choice, I wasn't going to see her like that anymore." Simon replied as he pushed himself up and looked around.

Finally, he spotted Jeanette next to the beds, he got up and ran over to her.

"Jeanette! Are you okay?" Simon said as he shook her.

Jeanette suddenly jolted up, spluttering out water.

"S-Simon? What are you doing? W-what happened?" Jeanette asked, extremely confused as to why Simon was shaking her awake and everybody was lying in a pool of water on the hotel room floor.

"You don't remember Jeanette?" Simon asked her, concerned.

"Remember what?" Jeanette asked, getting more confused by the moment.

But before Simon had a chance to answer. The group heard a demonic laugh ring throughout the hotel room.

Their heads turned towards the bathroom door entrance, and they all gasped.

"_Very impressive move chipmunk. You managed to break my spell on her..."_

The group heard the voice flow through the air and pierce their ears. It was a deep, demonic voice that chilled them to the bone.

"_I hope you enjoyed the little girl's display, I found it rather humorous how she took it..."_

There was a massive monster standing next to the bathroom. It's body was entirely dark blue in hide, and it's eyes were a bright orange as it stared at the chipmunks.

It looked as though it had a whale's skin. Rough and scaly.

The group just stared at the menacing creature standing there, growling. It stood at least nine feet tall.

_"Ah, I don't even have to smell out your Fear. For I can taste it in the air. You chipmunks will be slaughtered like bugs under my feet. It is inevitable. Fate has called, but Fate has also decided your end..."_

The chipmunks just stared at the giant demon standing there. They didn't know what to do, how to react.

_"Now let your blood stain these floors..."_

They heard the voice laugh as the giant demon suddenly lunged toward them.

The chipmunks screamed in fright as they panicked and ran in a group towards the back of the room.

They suddenly found themselves trapped between the giant floor-to-ceiling window and the monster coming after them.

Something had to be done fast or they would all die in one shot.

The monster roared as it lunged at the chipmunks, they jumped out of the way, scattering just in time.

The monster's arm missed them and slammed into the giant window, completely shattering the glass away.

Theodore suddenly jumped up and slammed his paw into the monster's chest, the massive winds followed his punch and sent the monster crashing into the hotel kitchen.

It roared in anger as it broke through the walls of the kitchen and smashed into the counter.

"What the hell are we in? Halo? That thing looks like a freaking Hunter!" Alvin yelled as he pointed at the demon, now rising to it's feet.

"Who cares? We have to get out of here or we're dead!" Brittany yelled in panic.

Suddenly, Ether, who was standing near the now open window, slipped.

The black-furred chipette screamed as she fell down, but she reached out and managed to grab onto the window ledge.

"Ether, NO!" Vayle suddenly yelled. Him and Simon reached out and grabbed her arms, pulling her up.

But it was too late. The demon had gotten up and charged towards them again.

And this time, before anybody had a chance to defend themselves, the monster smashed it's hand down in front of the chipmunks.

The massive force of the blast blew the chipmunks backward, sending them tumbling over the edge of the window, and into the air, out into the streets of Chicago below...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cliffhanger...<strong>_

_**...  
><strong>_

**Haven to the Possessed (BusyLovingChipmunks) **


	11. Rise of Hell: The Game Is On

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 11 - Rise of Hell: The Game is On**

_**I would just like to briefly apologize for my lack of posting this earlier, I encountered a few problems with it but was also busy working on my other project: 'The Retribution Saga' with Raconteur, Wind, and Perry. I would also like to thank them for all their help with my random questions and slight bits of advice. It helped me improve in this greatly. Also a shout-out to Pancakez and I Want Some Chicken. You guys also gave some great advice which has helped me so much...Prepare yourselves, and Enjoy.  
><strong>_

_You ask me what my first thought was when I woke up in the middle of a puddle of water, Simon shouting at me, a demon standing there, and moments later, being launched __out of a building and into a thousand-foot drop? _

_Well...I gotta say...I was pretty freaked out._**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Part 1 - Corporeal<strong>

* * *

><p>It was a silent night...<p>

A dark one...

No sound pierced the air as the dark forest trees below swayed silently.

Which was very curious as there was not a single gust of wind.

There was not a single rustle, not a single leaf made a noise. All was silent.

Not even the occasional passing plane seemed to pierce the screaming quiet.

Nobody would've noticed that there was something going on in the center of the large forest.

Something...very interesting.

The half-crescent moon only slightly illuminated the dark green leaves of the trees below.

And all was quiet...

"Are you ready for this my friend?"

The Spotted Owl turned around to face the wolf standing there before him.

"Nope. But it's not like I have a choice." The wolf replied as she shifted nervously.

The owl sighed as he spoke. "Of course you do. Considering what I'm about to do to you...I wouldn't be surprised if you changed your mind."

If the wolf had a pupil to roll, she would've done just that. But her eye was devoid of such a thing. Only a bright-blue never-ending flame was seen.

"No, I'm not backing down, come on, let's get started." The wolf said as she dropped onto the grassy forest floor, and rolled over. Revealing her dark-furred belly to the night sky.

The owl stared at his friend for a moment. Almost frightened at how willing she was.

And it pained him to know he was about to completely shatter that will into a thousand pieces.

And the owl hesitated.

"Kharos, do it now!" The wolf suddenly shouted.

Kharos finally snapped out of his revere, and walked over to his friend's side. And hopped onto her furry chest.

"Very well, stay still." Kharos said to the wolf who was lying there, offering herself to him.

She quickly nodded, gulping.

Kharos turned his head around him, taking in all the trees he saw, and sliced his brown-spotted wing through the still air.

Suddenly, multiiple dark-green vines shot out from the darkness and quickly wrapped around the wolf's four limbs.

Tightening hardly around her paw wrists and hind legs. And slowly pulling them apart, leaving the wolf spread-eagle on the forest floor

One of the wolf's paws was not normal, it was pitch-black with scales and claws covering it. It looked like a demon's foot. Kharos made sure to have a couple extra vines restrain this limb. For he knew of the claw's extra strength..

Suddenly, as an accidental instinct, the wolf's long, body-length tail lashed up and smacked Kharos right in the back, knocking him flat on the her chest.

Kharos pushed himself up and glared into the wolf's sapphire-flaming eye.

She weakly grinned back at him.

"Right, Kobalt. Sorry, I forgot to get your _tail._" Kharos snapped, with another flash of the wing, a couple more dark-green vines shot out from the trees and wrapped tightly around the wolf's steel-gray and dark-black furry tail.

She whimpered quietly, as this was an extremely uncomfortable and scary position to be in, especially for a female wolf like Kobalt.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Kharos asked cautiously, noticing her whimpers.

"Aren't you going to muzzle me?" Kobalt asked, ignoring his question.

Kharos stared at his friend like she had lost her mind before they even started.

"I would do no such thing my friend. I have made sure this forest is empty this night. If you feel the need to vent your yells...please do not hold it in." Kharos explained with assurance to the wolf lying there.

She knew what was going to happen, and why she needed to be restrained...but that didn't mean she was going to enjoy it.

"Alright...go, it's now or never." Kobalt said as she squeezed her single eye shut. Preparing for the worst.

Kharos nodded as he tightened the grip of the vines on her limbs.

He breathed in a deep inhale as he raised his talon. Letting it hover an inch above Kobalt's furry chest...

And exhaled as he pushed a heated energy to his raised talon. The tip of his third claw ignited into a small but searing flame.

And Kharos slowly lowered his talon down and pierced the flaming claw into Kobalt's chest...

The wolf immediately gasped as her flaming eye flew open from the excruciating pain that suddenly ripped through her.

Kharos glanced up at her face...but looked away quickly. It was too horrible to see that expression on his friend and keep going...but he had to.

Without hesitation. Kharos slowly sliced his flaming talon across her chest. Tracing a strange pattern into her fur and rough wolf skin.

The smell of burning flesh instantly wafted into the air and filled Kobalt's nose. She almost heaved from the horrible scent.

The fact that it was coming from her own body made it all the worse.

Kharos carefully averted his eyes from looking at the flesh scented smoke rising into the night air. He had to focus.

He lifted his talon momentarily. Giving Kobalt a moment to gasp again. Kharos tried to ignore her fast heart pounding against her rib cage and her heavy drawn breaths creating fog in the cold November air.

He slowly lowered his burning claw back down onto her chest on a different spot, piercing into it and creating a sickening sizzling sound.

Kobalt squeezed her eye shut tighter until it hurt her furred lids and she clamped her sharp teeth onto her tongue to keep from crying out.

Kharos tried to be as quick as he could, carving the burning markings into her chest. Creating a strange, foreign pattern of what looked like alien hieroglyph designs.

After almost four full minutes of searing pain, Kobalt couldn't hold it in any longer, the poor wolf screamed at the top of her lungs.

Kharos quickly lifted his talon off of her, she began thrashing around wildly, struggling as hard as she could against the powerful vines binding her.

"P-Please...no more. I c-can't take it." Kobalt pleaded out. But Kharos knew better than to listen. They had agreed beforehand that any pleas of mercy must be ignored.

Kharos pierced his burning talon back into her without hesitation. Burning a couple more searing lines across her furry chest.

Kobalt was longer attempting to stifle her cries. She no longer had the will to.

"STOP! It hurts too much, I feel like I'm dying!" Kobalt shrieked in agony.

Kharos sadly glanced up at Kobalt's face. Fresh tears were leaking out of her sapphire-flaming eye and matting her soft fur down.

Although his heart was shouting at him to stop hurting his friend, he couldn't.

"I'm so sorry Kobalt, I cannot. If I do now, your pain will be for nothing! Now please, hold in there for me." Kharos quietly spoke to the now sobbing wolf.

But his words did nothing to calm the creature in agony. She was no longer able to understand logic. Pain was all she felt and heard.

Kharos finished his burning slice, and then looked lower on her body. The owl sighed in sadness as he slowly lowered his still burning claw onto her soft stomach.

If Kobalt was screaming before, now it was worse than ever, the soft nerves were ripped through by the beyond-searing pain tearing through her belly.

The blinding agony was slowly taking over the wolf's sense of reality. She was becoming mentally shattered from the unbearable pain.

And right as Kharos carefully sliced his third cut into her belly...she finally broke.

The vines encircling her left arm, suddenly began to tear from her massive and sudden strength.

The black demon-looking claw was writhing and lashing out at the vines. Finally, after a few seconds of tearing, the vines holding the claw...snapped.

Her arm lashed forward with incredible speed and smacked Kharos directly in his side, sending him flying into the air.

He quickly flashed out his wings and regained himself, landing on one of the tree branches. He looked down at the tortured wolf.

She was no longer Kobalt. The pain and suffering had finally shattered her. She was in so much blind agony that her mind was gone.

All that was left right now was an _animal_...and it was terrified.

Her deadly claw lashed out back and forth through the air, blindly swiping at nothing. Growling and roaring in pain and anger. She was unstable.

Kharos stared upon his friend in sadness, he had brought her to this. He had to hurry before he failed her.

He sliced his wings through the air and more dark-green vines shot out from the trees and quickly wrapped around her clawed hand and attempted to restrain it.

But she was powerful. Most of the vines that wrapped around it were torn away as she lashed out back and forth. Fighting blindly for nothing, she was only making it worse for her.

Kharos quickly swooped down and slammed down onto her flailing arm, crashing it into the grass and holding it down tightly, his strength subduing it for the moment.

More vines shot down and wrapped around the still struggling arm. Tightening their grip to a deathly point.

But even that was not working well. Kharos struggled to keep her fighting arm down, it was too powerful.

He sliced his wing toward the forest floor. And suddenly, multiple underground tree roots burst from the grass and wrapped around Kobalt's strong arm.

Finally, with the help of Kharos' strength, the vines, and the tough tree roots, Kobalt was subdued and restrained again.

Kharos sighed in relief. And quickly hopped back onto his friend's tortured chest.

He looked upon her in sadness, the burning wounds were now spread open further and were leaking mass amounts of blood.

It trickled sickeningly through her dark-gray fur and in small scarlet puddles onto the forest grass under her.

But Kharos did not mourn his friend's injuries for long...for he was about to make more.

And as he lowered his talon once more, Kobalt was screaming and thrashing around more than ever.

Her sharp teeth were gnashing around dangerously. Slicing deathly close to Kharos' face.

A tear built up in the owl's eye as he saw his greatest friend try to kill him. While he tortured her body.

Kharos shook his head. He had no time to think of that. He was almost done and he wasn't going to fail his friend over a little sadness.

And he pierced into her chest once more. Carving the strange markings into stomach.

Finally, after a few more minutes of Kharos' slicing...Kobalt had begun to slow her thrashing around, the pain was intense. But she had already lost so much blood to the point where she was losing the strength to fight anymore.

Kharos quickly noticed, "Please my friend, do not give up on me yet. We're almost done. Please..."

He had no idea if the wolf could acknowledge or even hear him. He only prayed she would listen.

Kharos carefully reached up and sliced his searing talon once more near her neck, and then in a straight line directly under her shoulders.

Kobalt gasped one last time, her large jaws open wide as her pained breaths left her mouth. Small amounts of blood were leaking out from the corners of her lips.

The owl then retracted his flaming claw...and set his entire talon on fire.

It burned bright and illuminated the slices and blood scattered all over Kobalt's chest.

It was sickening to Kharos that he his talons were covered in his own friends blood. But he knew the reason was for the better.

He then slammed his flaming talon down onto the very middle of her furry, bloody, and scarred chest.

The pain would have made anybody scream in complete anguish and utter agony. But the wolf no longer had the strength.

Her flaming-sapphire eye just flashed even wider...as her life began to slip away.

"NO! Kobalt do not give up you idiot! You've come this far!" Kharos shouted to his friend, whose large head was starting to sway slowly, but she didn't listen to him.

"D*MN YOU KOBALT!" Kharos screamed at her. She was becoming nearly motionless.

Kharos pushed the fire through her chest. Igniting the searing wounds into flames. Making them all glow a sudden bright orange.

Smoke began to rise from the multiple glowing cuts on the wolf's tortured chest.

Any other creature or person would've have immediately thought this is some type of demonic death ritual. But it was quite the opposite of that.

Kharos watched carefully as the ritual was finally complete...and he stared at Kobalt, waiting for the right moment. Listening to her extremely fast pounding heartbeat, begin to slow.

No matter how much it pained him to do this. He could not fail. He had one shot at this, and he was not going to let his friend die because of his wasted sorrow for her pain.

Kobalt's life, finally began to slip away...

Kharos listened more close than he ever had in his extremely long life. He listened with the will to save a planet, and that's what he might as well be doing.

Kobalt's slowing heartbeats were coming to a rapid end. Kharos focused every fiber of his being into his right talon...ready.

Three...

Two...

One...

_NOW! _Kharos shouted to himself.

And right as Kobalt's final heartbeat made it's deathly exiting pump of blood to the wolf's tortured veins...

Kharos timed his mind with the power and precision of saving his friend.

And he rose his talon, it was glowing a bright white now.

He struck down onto Kobalt's chest. Directly in the middle of the final burning wound he had given.

"In the name of the All's Realm, Heaven, Hell and the Spirit of Existence itself, relinquish your soul to me!" Kharos screamed as he sent every last drop of energy and power he had, into his glowing white talon pressed onto his friends chest.

And the massive energy flowed through the wolf's body. It shocked every vein, every organ, every bone, every cell. It poured throughout her, igniting her wounds into a bright, vibrant glow.

Finally, as Kobalt's body shined with the power flowing through her. Her flaming-sapphire eye...finally burned a pure white.

And the moment it did so, Kharos ripped his glowing talon away from her chest...pulling something along with it.

He flew backwards and slammed into the forest floor.

Slowly and carefully, Kharos rose to his foot. His other talon holding..._something._

Kharos stared in awe at the sapphire, flaming orb in his hand.

He was holding the soul of Kobalt in his talon.

But he had no time to admire the beautiful glowing orb, he had to finish this.

Kharos walked over to a soft patch of dirt near a tree. He transferred the glowing orb and locked it in between his beak.

And carefully dug a tiny hole in the soft dirt, and as soon as he was done, he grabbed the flaming sapphire orb with his talon, and hung it over the hole.

He slowly glanced back at the tortured, still bloody, body of Kobalt, still bound by the tree vines.

And while staring at her white-glowing eye...he dropped her soul into the Earth.

And as the flaming orb touched the soft dirt of the planet, Kobalt...came back to life...roaring.

The vines and roots of the trees suddenly snapped to shreds as the wolf broke away and launched into the air.

She flipped once into the moonlit sky. Kharos watched in awe as she hovered in the air for a moment, the wolf's entire body was covered in sapphire-blue flames.

The moon shining brightly behind her hovering form, and she rose her head, and howled into the night...

And suddenly dropped back down onto the forest floor. The trees surrounding her and Kharos suddenly ignited into bright, burning flames as she crashed down into the floor.

Sending grass and dirt flying in every direction at the impact.

Kharos slowly looked around in shock. The trees burned brightly, but none were actually damaged.

They were peacefully standing there unharmed, crackling like angel whispers in the still night.

The risen wolf was standing there gloriously, her body's blue flames slowly dying down, revealing her beautiful white, gray, and black fur beneath.

It was like all the damage Kharos had caused was never there.

Every injury, every burning slice that he had cut, all the pain she had suffered, There was no remains of it.

Her beautiful silky coat shined god-like in the moonlight and trees' flames.

Kharos smiled as he walked up to his risen friend.

"Congratulations Kobalt...you are...Corporeal."

* * *

><p><strong>Part 2 - Don't Get Caught<strong>

* * *

><p>It was of course, just a normal night in Chicago.<p>

Cars driving around, people having fun. Nothing out of the ordinary at the moment...but come 11:57...

Give Hell a greeting.

If someone took a _look_ at the city...they would notice nothing.

However, if they took a _close_ look...at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in particular...they would notice it was missing a window.

They would also notice the eight chipmunks that were just launched _out_ of that particular missing window.

And if they _listened_ close enough...they would hear the screams of these eight chipmunks...as they plummeted to the ground.

"Somebody do something!" Brittany screamed at the top of her lungs. Albeit the act was useless, the rushing wind was too ear-piercing for them to hear each others' cries as they dropped to the Earth.

And as the group finally gave up and thought they were done for...they were dead, the universe destroyed, because of them falling out of a window...as these thoughts passed their mind...-

_'Let it flow through you...'_

Theodore was shocked to hear the angelic female voice echo inside of his head. _'Who's there?'_ The chubby chipmunk wondered to himself.

_'Focus Theodore, let your power flow...do not force it's energy, let it pulse through you. And you will be saved.'_

Theodore had no idea who or what was speaking to him. But it soothed him, and it let him know what to do...it was strange, but he somehow recognized the voice...

But the green-clad chipmunk had no more time to wonder...the short conversation happened within a second inside his head...and he knew what to do...and he didn't have much time.

And with the massive will and hope of saving his friends; Theodore pushed his tiny arms in front of him as he plummeted to the ground...and as he did so, he felt an insanely powerful force smack into them all, midair.

It crashed directly into them. The shredding winds pushed their small bodies back, slowing their speeding velocity to the ground. And finally...they slowed and slowed in the air until after many moments of screaming...the chipmunks felt their paws touch the sidewalk below, safely and unharmed.

A split-second moment of silence and confusion...

"What just happened?" Alvin suddenly asked as he finally looked down, and back up again.

The rest of the group was finally opening their tightly squeezed eyes and looking around in shock.

A hair-breath away from becoming splats on the ground, and a powerful gust of wind, now they were safe.

Simon suddenly turned around and ran to the tearful chipette who was shrinking down to the ground suddenly.

"Jeanette! Are you okay?" Simon quickly asked her as he crouched down and put an arm over her shaking shoulder.

"S-Simon...what ha-happened?" Came the tearful sobs of the purple-clad chipette.

"You don't remember? I think it was that monster, it kinda _possessed _you." Simon carefully explained, trying not to make it sound as bad as it was.

Jeanette took her paws out of her face and slowly looked up into Simon's eyes, hers brimming with fresh drops.

"What? I was possessed? Oh no..." Jeanette began crying again as she hugged Simon and stuffed her face into his shoulder.

Simon gently hugged her back into his arms, awkwardly trying to comfort her while everybody else watched.

"Jeanette, it's okay, you didn't do anything...too bad. Just, don't worry about it for now okay?"

Although she was not comforted at all, she tried to stop crying for the moment, realizing they should assess the situation at hand.

"A-alright Simon, so, what do we do now?" She asked as Simon helped her onto her feet and they both faced the other six chipmunks as they all stood on the front sidewalk of the Trump Tower.

"Well guys, I'd say it's pretty smart to get out of here." Alvin said as he looked around, noticing cars slowly driving by.

It seemed to be a slow night right now, usually the streets of downtown Chicago would be packed full of cars.

But only a handful scattered the midnight streets.

"Yea but how Alvin? We don't have money! All our stuff is back in the hotel!" Brittany frantically said, seeming to be the first one to start overreacting, as always.

"Brittany, we'll just hitchhike again, you know, get a taxi." Alvin suggested as he started looking around, spotting the cars in search for a yellow taxi.

"Hey Britt, why are you in your regular clothes?" Eleanor suddenly asked her sister randomly.

"I don't know, guess I forgot to change into my pyjamas, hehe." Brittany said with a slight laugh.

The rest of the group was in their normal attire as well except for Jeanette, Eleanor, and Ether. Who were all dressed in their soft nightgowns.

The chipmunks were dressed in their casual hoodies, while Brittany was dressed in her casual pink spotted skirt and light pink t-shirt with a purple stripe across the middle. Along with her signature black-leather jacket with a bright pink cursive 'B' carved into the right upper pocket.

The group was just standing there searching for a taxi when they suddenly heard something. Something rather familiar...

"Uh-oh..." Simon said as he looked up.

Their hearts suddenly dropped as they spotted the worst.

The monster was looking down at them, hanging out of the broken window of the Trump Tower. Snarling menacingly.

"Maybe we should hurry up..." Alvin said as he stared back at the demon watching them.

"There no freakin' taxis anywhere! Why don't we just take a car?" Brittany said as she also, searched around.

"How are we supposed to drive? We're ten inches tall!" Alvin shouted back at Brittany.

"Hey you've had crazier ideas buddy!" Brittany snapped as she stomped up to Alvin...argument: begin.

Simon rolled his eyes at the two chipmunks now yelling at each other, but he was well aware of the beast staring angrily at them a thousand feet up.

That's when the demon...jumped.

It soared out the window and suddenly slammed it's arm into the side of the building, shattered through the glass windows and stone floors as it slid down the side of the building...fast.

"Guys shut the hell up! Look!" Vayle suddenly roared at Alvin and Brittany, pointing at the demon falling down towards them, making thousands of shards of glass and stone rain down near the building entrance.

"Oh...my...God..." Brittany spoke as she saw it. Fear forming in her eyes.

"We have to move! NOW!" Simon yelled as he grabbed Jeanette's paw and pulled her away.

The group quickly followed them, sprinting across the sidewalk.

Out of nowhere, two trucks pulled up onto the street right next to them, coming to a screeching halt and six suited men stepping out, bearing sub-machine guns in their hands.

The chipmunks gasped as they quickly jumped behind a nearby fire hydrant.

The group spotted the sign on their backs and on the trucks: S.W.A.T.

"What are they doing here?" Ether frantically whispered as she watched the six armed men run forward.

"Maybe someone called the cops because of us!" Alvin said as he stared at them in wonder.

Simon rolled his eyes again, and was about to say something, but stopped as he saw the monster suddenly slam into the ground.

The armed men, stopped in front of the beast, aimed their guns, and started firing at it.

The group gasped as they watched the men fire away at the demon, bullets bouncing straight off it's hard body.

"Come on guys we have to get out of here now!" Simon said as he pulled Jeanette forward again and ran over to the police truck parked next to the curb.

"Simon what are you doing?" Brittany exclaimed as she watched Simon and Jeanette jump into the vehicle.

"I'm hitching a ride! Now everybody get in!" Simon shouted at them.

The group didn't spare any time, they quickly jumped into the police vehicle and helped each other pull the door closed.

"Alright what now Si?" Alvin asked his brother as he hopped into the passenger seat.

Simon and Jeanette were sitting in the driver's seat.

"I don't know, we gotta drive this thing somehow!" Simon frantically said as he looked around.

He glanced in the back where Theodore, Eleanor, and Ether and Vayle were sitting...and gasped.

Right in the middle of the back seat, was a built-in seat that rose up and had a roof exit, and attached to the top of the vehicle; was a gatling-gun...

"Whoa!" Alvin exclaimed as he spotted it. He immediately hopped into the back seat and jumped onto the gun seat, climbing onto the gun and examining it.

"Alvin don't touch that!" Simon shouted at him.

"I'm not gonna shoot it you idiot!" Alvin shouted back, resuming his examining of the weapon attached to the roof of the truck.

It was like they were in a military vehicle.

Simon continued frantically searching around for any type of way to turn the vehicle on...until a memory suddenly shot into his head.

_"GET AWAY!"...Jeanette...blue...electricity...paws...Theodore...shot...electricity..._

"Jeanette!" Simon suddenly shouted, causing the purple-clad chipette standing next to him; to jump in fright.

"Wha-what is it Simon?" Jeanette frantically asked.

"Your power! It's electricity!" Simon said, surprised at his realization.

"What do you mean Simon?" Jeanette asked curiously, looking completely confused.

"When you were possessed! You attacked Theodore with a bolt of electricity! That must be your power!" Simon quickly explained to the confused chipette.

Jeanette's eyes went wide. "What? Oh Theodore I'm so sorry!" She said frantically to the green-clad chipmunk sitting in the backseat.

"Jeanette! Focus! Don't worry about that right now, he's fine!" Simon shouted as he grabbed onto her shoulders and turned her toward him.

"Um, ok Simon." Jeanette said nervously. Her cheeks burning red at Simon's touch.

"Try it Jeanette! Hurry!" Simon frantically told her, glancing up at the demon who was now attacking the men.

"Um, alright I'll try..." Jeanette said as she raised her paws to her face and stared at them.

A few awkward moments went by as Jeanette just looked at her paws, not sure what to do.

But then she remembered what happened with Theodore and the others, and she closed her eyes, and focused.

She took a deep breath and pushed the energy to her paws, and after a few moments...she gasped.

Her eyes snapped wide open as she stared at her now glowing paws.

Several small blue bolts of electricity were swirling and crackling around her furry brown paw.

"WHOA!" Jeanette suddenly yelped as she felt a massive amount of energy burst through her entire body.

"S-Simon, this is crazy!" Jeanette said with a laugh, staring in wonder at the crackling energy.

"Good Jeanette I knew you could do it! Now use it! Use it to turn the truck on!" Simon told her as he glanced back at the demon, in combat with the police men.

They were firing at it in bursts while it crashed around and lunged at them. Simon flinched as he saw it grab on of the men and rip his arm off.

Jeanette took a step forward and with a deep exhale, placed her electrified paw on the steering wheel.

An immediate effect happened. Bright blue bolts of electricity shot through the vehicle and lit all of inside it.

The metal and controls glowed bright blue for a moment before the truck's ignition kicked in and it roared to life.

"Awesome!" Simon said as he stared at Jeanette, her normal violet eyes were glowing a bright blue as she kept her electrified paw on the steering wheel.

"What now Simon?" Brittany asked as she glanced between the two chipmunks standing in the driver's seat.

"We gotta drive this somehow..." Simon said as he walked forward and examined the controls and buttons.

"No, I think I can. Let me try something." Jeanette spoke slowly as she raised her second glowing paw and placed it on the steering wheel.

The truck flashed with crackling electricity, again.

And Jeanette closed her eyes in concentration, practicing her sudden idea.

She let the electricity's energy flow through her body and into her paws, and it flowed into the steering wheel and quickly channeled throughout ever metal piece, every wire in the entire truck. It buzzed with energy as the power flowed through it. Jeanette had electrical access to every single machine piece or gear in the entire vehicle.

She grinned as she realized that. And she then pushed energy to the gear and wires inside the pedaling system.

The truck's tires suddenly started spinning rapidly, burning smoke into the air.

Jeanette's eyes popped open as she realized what she was doing. "Simon! I have control on everything! I can drive it!" She exclaimed in surprise.

"Perfect! Jeanette, do you think you are capable of driving this thing?" Simon asked, carefully, looking deep into Jeanette's bright blue eyes.

Jeanette slowly nodded, and grinned deviously. Simon nodded back, and gave her a look. _Do it._

She turned back forward and looked out towards the road, luckily the seat was raised high enough for her to see properly.

To the right she spotted the men still fighting with the monster. But right as she looked, she gasped.

The demon had just slammed its clawed hand into the last standing man and send him sprawled across the sidewalk, bleeding.

Jeanette quickly shot energy into the emergency brake lever system and released the driving gears into _drive_.

She smiled as she then focused energy back onto the gas pedal, and split a current of energy to the steering wheel, and jerked it left.

Swiftly, and roughly, the tires pulled the truck forward, and obeyed the steering wheel by turning left. Swinging the large vehicle around and making it face the opposite direction of the monster who had just lunged towards them.

And the truck, now directed straight, shot forward again. Almost immediately slamming into a high speed, away from the demon.

Jeanette carefully electrically controlled the steering wheel and gas pedals as she began weaving through traffic, trying to put distance between them and the demon.

Cars honked and people yelled at her as she came perilously close to slamming into another vehicle.

She smiled as she sped through the scarce, downtown streets of Chicago.

Until she heard a sudden roar.

Jeanette fearfully glanced up at the rear-view mirror while the rest of the terrified chipmunks whipped their heads around and looked out the back window.

The monster that they thought they lost, was on all four limbs, sprinting towards them, fast.

Jeanette gasped and quickly slammed the pedal down further, making them jerk forward with more velocity.

She suddenly turned onto a street, jerking the wheel sideways and slamming the brakes in as the tires skidded into a drift as she practically flew into the turn.

"Careful Jeanette! Or you'll get us killed!" Brittany screamed at her sister as she held tightly onto her seat-belt.

"That's the freaking opposite of what I'm trying to do!" Jeanette snapped back as she completed the turn, slicing into the side of a parked car on the street and making it's alarm go off.

The four chipmunks in the back kept their eyes glued to the monster, watching it skid into the sharp turn as well, it slipped and dug it's razor-sharp claws into the asphalt as it skidded across the street.

It slammed into the car that Jeanette had skimmed across, ramming it over and making it flip onto the sidewalk and crash sideways into a building.

But the monster did not slow down.

Jeanette concentrated as she pulled into another turn, more smooth this time.

She sped into sudden, oncoming traffic.

The group of chipmunks screamed as they covered their eyes, speeding cars almost hitting them head on.

"Calm down I know what I'm doing!" Jeanette shouted at them, gritting her teeth in pure focus.

"Just be careful!" Simon shouted as he looked back at the demon, who was advancing on them.

It jumped around the cars perfectly, it was persistent.

"Man we have got to slow that thing down or something!" Ether shouted as she saw the monster lunge at them, almost scraping the bumper of the truck.

"I'm on it!" Jeanette yelled back as she jerked the wheel again, avoiding another head-on collision.

She pulled forward quicker, and made sure the monster was right behind her...she was speeding straight towards an oncoming car.

And Jeanette glanced rapidly back and forth between the demon in pursuit and the car she was speeding toward.

Right at the very last moment, Jeanette electrically jerked the wheel sideways and dodged the oncoming car by a mere foot.

The monster however, did not jump out of the way.

Jeanette was hoping for the beast to get head-on rammed by the car, but it did something unexpected.

It jumped _over_ the speeding vehicle. Slamming it's claws into the car's front hood and launching itself into the air.

Flying through the wind for a moment before crashing heavily back onto the street, doing a barrel-roll and slamming back onto it's claws and continuing it's pursuit.

"Damn! That thing is not gonna stop is it?" Simon said as he watched the beasts lunge at the truck once more, slicing a claw across the back bumper this time.

"We'll just have to keep going then!" Jeanette said as she turned her head back onto the road, just in time for-

_'CRASH!'_

The truck suddenly slammed into a metal barrier, completely ripping through it and flying out in the air, soaring off a small cliff.

One second...

And the truck slammed into the ground below, rolling to a slow stop on the sandy beach.

A few moments of silence passed before the chipmunks finally picked themselves up and looked around.

"Wh-what h-happened?" Eleanor slowly asked as she pushed herself up in her seat.

"We fell, off a cliff." Alvin spoke as he looked back and saw the ripped metal barrier where the truck had crashed through. A ten-foot drop.

Jeanette quickly stood up in her seat and turned back, spotting the monster stopping at the small cliff and staring at them, growling angrily.

"No time to stop guys!" Jeanette suddenly shouted as she raised her paws once more and shot energy into the truck, slamming the gas pedal down.

The tires spun for a few seconds, kicking up plumes of sand into the night air before finally catching onto the ground and pushing the vehicle forward quickly.

The chipmunk were slammed back into their seats at the sudden velocity.

The monster growled and suddenly jumped off the cliff, slamming into the sandy beach and rolling once before slamming it's claws onto the ground and lunging at the truck, barely missing again.

The beach was barely less than a football field long, so Jeanette barely had any room to drive.

And there was no driveway exit off the lake beach...they were trapped.

As Jeanette came up to the beach exit, she made a wide turn and spun the truck around, stopping for a moment in the sands before slamming back down hard on the gas pedal, speeding forward and passing right next to the rushing demon. It stuck it's arm out and slashed a claw against the driver's window.

Jeanette glanced out the window, meeting eyes with the beast for a split-second. She glared with hatred into its eyes while its snarled menacingly back.

"Jeanettte! Try to get us closer to the water! I can try to attack it!" Simon told her as he turned around and watched the demon stop in its tracks, turn around, and continue chasing the truck.

The purple-clad chipette nodded as she focused on to the left and turned the truck towards the lake.

Coming to the shore, the tires splashed up sandy water and kicked it into the night air, the demon was in close pursuit behind them.

Simon climbed over over to the driver's window and raised his arms toward the waters, they were lit by the city lights right behind them.

He willed the energy through the air and felt it flow through his body and into his arms.

And a giant plume of water crashed into the air suddenly from the soft waves.

Simon pulled his arm back and commanded the water to come towards him, it obeyed.

The water, in mid-air, formed several large twirling streams as it shot towards the truck and stopped above it.

Following the vehicle as it sped across the beach.

Simon then turned around and flashed him arms forward, directly toward the pursuing demon behind them.

The waters spared no moments in obeying the command, they shot backward and quickly slammed into the beast.

It roared in anger as the powerful waters crashed it into the ground, making it fall and slam into the sand, it slid a few feet before coming to a stop.

"Yea Simon! Way to go!" The group cheered as they saw the demon slammed into the sand.

Simon grinned, he had hurt the monster...or so he thought.

But just as the victory ended, the monster slowly rose to it's feet.

Simon groaned in annoyance. "When is that thing gonna give up?"

Jeanette reached the end of the beach again, and spun the truck again.

Now driving in the opposite direction, towards the monster.

"Guys, I have an idea." Jeanette said as she glared at the monster, now risen to its feet and running towards them once more.

"What is it Jen?" Alvin asked curiously as his eyes were also fixed in the demon.

"The mounted gun..." Jeanette said, turning around and looking at the weapon attached to the roof of the truck.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that!" Simon suddenly said as he realized what Jeanette meant.

"Vayle! Get on that thing and get ready to shoot this persistent little punk." Jeanette said with an evil grin...she was certainly not acting herself.

Vayle nodded and hopped onto the seat, climbing up to the handle of the gatling-gun and examining it.

The ammunition box attached to the side was labeled: 45. cal.

"Oh this is gonna do some damage..." Vayle said to himself with a grin.

And he grabbed onto the handles of the large mounted gun, but quickly realized something.

"Jeanette! I can't aim and shoot this thing at the same time! My hands aren't big enough!" Vayle shouted down to Jeanette.

The purple-clad chipette turned around and looked up at the gun, and got an idea.

"Don't worry about that Vayle! I'll handle it! You just aim!" Jeanette said as she turned back and stared at the monster, coming close to them.

Jeanette raised one of her arms back and aimed it at the mounted gun.

She let the electricity flowing through the truck, to shoot into the gun's systems and turn it on.

Vayle smiled as the gun's lights and systems buzzed to life and flashed.

"It's on Jeanette!" Vayle shouted down to her.

"Good! Aim it directly at the damn thing! And get ready!" Jeanette shouted back as she grabbed a hold of the gun's firing systems and prepared herself.

Speeding towards the monster...closer and closer...

One heartbeat...

Two...

Three...

Four...

Fi...-

"NOW!" Jeanette screamed as she electrically slammed the gun's triggers down and with an immensely powerful kick...the gun fired.

It's barrels whizzed to life and the hundreds of bullets shot out of it at lightning speed.

Flying through the night air and slamming directly into the beast with colossal power.

The running monster immediately was stopped as he roared in agony from the strength of the 45. caliber rounds that were slamming into his body.

Even his rough hide couldn't take it. Blood began to leak from his hundreds of wounds.

Vayle held on with all of his strength and turned the giant gun as they passes up the monster, keeping the sights fixed on it while Jeanette kept power on the triggers.

Finally, after a few more seconds of blasting away...the monster, fell to the ground, bloody and riddled with hundreds of bullets.

Dark blue blood trickled out of it's body everywhere as it finally breathed it's last growl...and died.

Seeing the monster fall, Jeanette finally stopped the vehicle, coming to a slow halt in the sands.

"Is everybody alright?" She asked as she let go of the energy, letting the gun's gears die down as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yea Jeanette, we're fine." Theodore said as he too, plopped back down in his seat.

The group all sighed together as they sat down...

But apparently fate does not like to give many breaks, because right as they had a moment to relax...it was taken away.

Their ears suddenly perked up as they caught the noise.

A low buzzing sound...a helicopter.

"What could that be here for?" Alvin asked as he rose to his feet and peered out the window.

But his question was answered very quickly as he spotted the helicopter, and saw something.

"IT'S ATTACKING US!" Alvin shouted as he spotted the side-guns on the helicopter's wings buzz to life and begin spinning.

And before anybody had time to react...the guns fired.

And bullets started to rain down upon _them_ now.

They instinctively dropped down and covered their heads with their paws.

"Vayle get inside now!" Ether screamed at her cousin.

He gulped in fright as he spotted the helicopter, firing down upon them.

Ether jumped up and grabbed onto his ankle, yanking him down into the seat.

"You idiot! You almost died!" Ether screamed at him.

The bullets from the chopper rained down upon the bulletproof metal, creating a loud pelting noise.

"Why are they shooting at us?" Jeanette screamed as she covered her tiny ears from the sound.

"I don't know!" Simon yelled back as he clamped his paws over his ears as well.

Finally, the rain of bullets stopped as the helicopter pulled away.

The chipmunks slowly looked up and saw the helicopter's lights off in the distance.

A moment of relief, they thought it was over, but suddenly spotted the vehicle turning around...for another pass.

Simon stared closely, focusing on the helicopter's wing lights, and his heart dropped as he saw double missile pods extending down.

"They're gonna fire missiles at us..." Simon suddenly spoke.

"What?" Alvin yelled, "What did we do to them?"

"I don't know!" Simon snapped again.

"Get back on the gun! We could shoot at it!" Jeanette said frantically as she watched in fear as the armed helicopter flew closer to them, missile pods extended.

Brittany suddenly stood up, "No, I got this one." She said with a glare on her face.

She hopped over onto the backseat chair and climbed up onto the gun. Pushing herself onto the roof of the truck and walking near the edge of it.

Brittany glared straight at the approaching helicopter, her paws burning with orange flames in the night air.

"Brittany no! Don't!" Jeanette cried as she realized what Brittany was doing.

But the black-clad chipette ignored her sister.

She backed up a few steps.

One heartbeat...

She sprinted forward with full speed, launching herself high off the truck roof and soaring straight towards the helicopter.

Brittany flew through the air with amazing strength, and raised her flaming paw up.

Two...

And with all the strength the could muster...Brittany slammed her flaming paw into the nose of the oncoming helicopter.

Three...

The flames quickly shot into the vehicle. The heat flowing through ever inch of it.

Pouring through all the pipes, the metal, the wires.

Finally, after a split-second...Brittany got the reaction she was hoping for.

The flames hit a fuel valve.

Four...

To put it simply, the helicopter...exploded.

Five...

Brittany dropped down to the ground from the colossal force of the vehicle detonating from it's own fuel flowing throughout it.

The flames seared and quickly raced throughout the metal, igniting everything in a split-second.

The engines couldn't take the heat, they detonated.

Imploding the entire helicopter...a thousand metal pieces and flaming debris flew throughout the sky and littered the sandy beach below.

Brittany landed perfectly, one knee to the ground, one arm bent, her paw still flaming, her eyes distant, a devilish grin of ultimate victory on her furry face.

The chipmunks quickly opened the door of the truck and cheered, running over to Brittany on the beach.

"Oh Brittany that was awesome!" Eleanor said as she hugged her sister into her arms.

The rest of them all joined together in one big group hug. Enjoying their well-earned moment of peace after their victory against the demon and the helicopter.

But fate...was not in their favor for long...

Another beast suddenly crashed out from the water, flying through the air and slamming into the ground right next to the group.

Before they could do anything, before anybody could react, attack, scream, anything...

The giant beast raised claws on both sides of the chipmunks, a wall of black flame engulfed them.

One moment they were standing there...the next moment...they were all gone...

The only evidence that anything had happened there on the beach was the scattered flaming debris of the destroyed helicopter and the idle truck, parked in the middle of the sands...

* * *

><p><strong>Part 3 - Be Careful<strong>

* * *

><p>The group screamed as they hit the ground with a <em>thud<em>.

The demon that had transported them there was gone.

They were now seemingly alone.

They were unharmed though, slowly rising to their feet, they looked around.

Another forest...a dark one.

Trees surrounded them in every direction. Albeit they were in somewhat of a slight clearing right now in the forest floor.

"What exactly just happened?" Brittany was the first to ask as everybody was standing, looking around in the darkness.

A moon shone down through the forest branches, cutting its bright hue in through slices in the trees' canopy of dark leaves.

"This may be just a wild guess," Simon said, "But I think we were just teleported." He said as he wiped his glasses off before pushing them back onto his face.

Jeanette's tail twitched as Simon said that. "Alright...but where to exactly?" She asked fearfully, not enjoying the eerie silence of the trees.

The purple-clad chipette's eyes had finally returned to their normal violet colour.

"I don't know, just...stay close together." Simon said, blue eyes carefully scanning the darkness, barely able to see past the tree branches lit by the moon.

A moment of utter silence passed as the group of eight chipmunks in the forest just looked around, not sure what to do,, but waiting for _something._

And as always...something unexpected, happened.

Something suddenly burst out of the darkness of the trees, flying straight toward the group.

It was too fast, no time to react, the thing swooped down and lashed its claws out, grappling onto Ether and Vayle, and yanking them into the air.

The two chipmunks screamed as they were pulled higher into the dark forest.

"Why do they always do that?" Simon yelled.

"Come on Simon!" Alvin shouted at his brother as he sprinted towards a tree and jumped onto it.

Simon quickly saw what Alvin was doing, and caught on.

He turned around and ran for the opposite tree, jumping onto it and swiftly climbing his way upward.

The two red and blue blurs flashed up the tree with extreme speed until they were finally level with the beast holding Ether and Vayle.

Alvin got a good look at it.

It seemed to resemble some type of angelic-demon, its head had horns sticking out of the sides like crooked tusks, while it's entire body was leathery black.

With two bat-like wings on its back, and sharp claws clamping tightly around the two black-furred chipmunks.

Alvin's eyes suddenly met those red beams of the demon. It stared back at the pursuing chipmunk with hatred.

"NOW ALVIN!" Simon roared as he launched himself off the tree and into the air, straight toward the monster.

Alvin nodded and did the time, soaring directly towards its claws holding the two chipmunks.

And quickly and precisely, Alvin latched onto Vayle and tore the chipmunk out of the demon's claws, while Simon grappled onto Ether and pulled her away.

Alvin and Simon crossed paths in air and landed on the opposite trees.

They looked over at each other, and grinned.

The demon roared as it flipped back around and lunged towards Simon with its sharp claws outstretched.

Simon kept a tight grip on the chipette he was holding, dug his own claws into the side of the trees...and dropped.

Falling towards the floor at a swift speed, his strong claws dug further into the bark, slowing him down quickly enough right before he hit the floor.

Landing him and Ether safely on the ground.

The demon roared again then turned around and lunged back at Alvin.

He gasped and launched off the tree, in panic, landing on the demon's head and launching himself off before it had a chance to move.

Alvin flew through the air before reaching his arm out and finding a long tree vine.

He blindly grappled onto it and held tightly as he and Vayle quickly propelled towards the ground.

Alvin waited a moment before clamping his paw down onto the vine tightly.

Suddenly halting their velocity and bringing them down to the forest floor, safely.

The two chipmunks sighed in relief as their paws touched earth.

But there was no time to celebrate, the demon had latched onto a tree and was staring down at them menacingly.

Without warning, it lunged downward once more.

Lashing its leathery wings out, ready to attack.

"Somebody do something!" Eleanor cried as she stared fearfully at the deadly monster rushing towards them.

One breath...

One heartbeat...

His veins began to flow more rapidly, his blood pumped out of his heart and into every single organ of his body, rushing with a strange, new-found energy.

He gasped as he felt the massive power flowing through his body, every cell, every bone. All was circulating with extreme power.

And he opened his paw up as he felt power shoot into it.

The fur suddenly glowed a bright, glowing, crimson red.

Alvin sighed and opened his eyes, glaring at the demon, his eyes matching its colour.

And the red-clad chipmunk roared as he raised his paw and fired.

A bolt of pure-red energy soared through the air and slammed into the demon head-on.

_No words could properly describe the colossal explosion that flashed through out the forest..._

The chipmunk were blown off their feet as the entire night filled with pure-red light and blinded them.

The surrounding trees shattered into a thousand splinters as the power ripped throughout the area.

Hundreds of black birds within miles flew away from their nests in fright, flying for their lives.

Deafening silence...truly...

Alvin finally peeled his eyes open and rose his head off the forest floor.

He was sprawled out on his back, blown away from the powerful explosion.

He looked forward, there was nothing left of the demon, at all. It was blown to a thousand pieces.

Alvin grinned to himself, he had awakened his power.

But in his victory, he briefly forgot about the seven chipmunks laying around him.

"Oh no! Guys are you okay?: Alvin frantically asked as he jumped to his feet and began checking everybody.

They slowly began to wake up and rise to their feet, dazed from what had happened.

"Ether, Vayle, are you guys okay? You're not hurt are you?" Alvin asked as he helped them to their feet.

"No, we're fine, thankfully." Vayle said as he dusted off his gray hoodie.

"Alvin...that was purely amazing." Simon said as he brushed himself of as well.

"Yea, thanks. It kinda just came over me. Sorry though, I had no idea that would happen." Alvin said, slightly guilty.

"Oh no it's fine, that was really cool Alvin." Brittany said as she walked up to the group.

_"Yes Alvin, that was truly...amazing."_

The group suddenly spun around at the voice that just rang throughout the seemingly silent forest.

They gasped as they spotted the source. And instant fear shot into them.

Standing there a few feet away from them...was a chipmunk.

A chipette for that matter, but not just a normal one...it was Brittany...and she was covered in dark-crimson blood.

Her eyes matched the colour of the splatters all over her and her clothes.

Brittany froze in terror as she stared back at her bloody self, it was just watching them, an evil grin spread across its face.

And that's when it spoke again. "_So that's the second demon you've been able to kill tonight...I'm impressed._" The false-Brittany spoke in a demented, slithering voice.

"Who are you?" Alvin fearfully asked the Brittany as he stared into its eyes.

The demon chipette was wearing the same attire as the normal Brittany, except every piece of pink or black clothing, was horribly ripped and tattered, and stained with dark blood everywhere.

"_Oh you don't recognize your own girlfriend, Alvin?_" When it spoke Alvin's name, it was a gut-wrenching sound.

"I don't care what you look like! You're _not_ Brittany!" Alvin roared angrily at the bloody chipette.

It just grinned as it saw the absolute terror in Brittany's ice-blue eyes.

"A-Alvin, w-what's going on, why does that thing look like m-me?" She asked Alvin as she tried to look away from the blood all over her false-body.

Alvin just shook his head. "I don't know." He whispered to her.

The demon just stood there and smiled as it turned its head and stared at the rest of the chipmunks, Eleanor gulped as she met eyes with it.

"What do you want? Why are you attacking us?" Alvin shouted at the demon.

"_Oh I've just been having fun with all of you. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't exist right now. But trust me, that time will come..." _The demon told them as it winked at Eleanor.

The lime-green chipette quickly looked away.

"What do you want?" Alvin roared as he took a few steps toward the bloody chipette.

It turned and met eyes with Alvin. Those blood-red eyes sent a shiver down his spine, but he did not back down.

"Answer me!" He shouted again, not taking his brown eyes of the demon.

It grinned evilly back at him as it answered. _"What I want? I want you all dead, but I will make it slow for you, I will put you through more horror than you could imagine, more pain, more suffering. By the time I'm done with you...you'll be begging for death..."_

"Why are you doing this? We never did anything to you!" Alvin yelled, getting more angry.

_"Hmm...good question. Why does a killer kill people? Why does a thief steal things? Why does a rapist ravage girls? Same reason as everybody else. I however, want the Ether Veil gone. Only then can I achieve ultimate victory, and you all will be the key to that. And I will enjoy tearing you apart in the process." _The demon sneered at the group as it laughed a demonic chuckle.

"Alvin had enough, he stomped right up to the demonic Brittany, his paws glowing red. "You will leave us alone! Or I'll kill you right here!" Alvin shouted with anger into the eyes of the demon.

It laughed and turned around. "_Oh Alvin, that's some powerful talk for a tiny chipmunk. Merely because I look to be a pathetic little bloody chipette I presume? Well how about now?" _The demon roared as it lashed back and punched Alvin square in the gut, sending him flying across the forest floor and smacking right into Simon, sending them both tumbling to the ground in pain.

And the demon suddenly _transformed._ It's bloody fur disintegrated away as its body grew in height, thickening and stretching as it turned a dark, slimy black.

Sharp claws formed on its feet and hands, its head grew as spikes and horns shot out of it.

Finally, the transformation was complete. The demon stood almost seven feet tall, towering above the tiny chipmunks.

Its eyes glowed a dark-bloody red as it smiled and stared down at them.

It was truly an ugly monster, but it struck fear into them.

Alvin launched himself onto his feet, paws still glowing bright red, and he aimed them at the giant monster.

But it spotted Alvin, and lunged quickly downward and grabbed the nearest chipmunk on the ground.

Brittany screamed as she banged on its clawed hand as it almost crushed her in its grip.

Alvin gasped and lowered his hands, letting the energy die down.

"NO! Let her go now!" Alvin roared in anger at the demon.

Its red eyes looked at the chipette it was previously impersonating.

_"Oh you really are a pretty one aren't you? I think I will enjoy __tasting you." _The demon licked its clawed face with its black tongue as it stared at the struggling chipette in its claw.

Brittany squealed in fear as she pushed hard against the demon's claw...but it was no use, its grip was too powerful.

"Please! Let her go!" Alvin cried as he watched uselessly as Brittany struggled against the might of the demon.

He could do nothing, if he attacked, he could hurt her to. He could only stand and watch her die.

"Let me go, please!" Brittany gasped as she tried to squirm away, using all her energy.

The demon ignored the synchronized cries of the two chipmunks.

He glared into Brittany's ice-blue eyes...and laughed.

Brittany gasped as she looked back into the demon's eyes.

The monster then raised its second claw, lifting a single finger and pointing it directly at Brittany's tiny forehead.

Moving it closer and closer until the claw barely touched her head.

That's when Brittany screamed. An orange and red glow burst from the claw, the demon's eyes glowed the same colour as it injected something into the screaming chipette.

The bright energy poured into her through her forehead, her eyes opened wide as she screamed in agony.

And as soon as it begun...it was over.

The demon retracted its claw from her head, the glow dying away.

Brittany's eyes rolled back into her head as she slumped to the side.

The demon laughed darkly as it loosened its grip on the chipette, letting her small body slip through its hands and drop to the forest floor below with a _thud._

Alvin gasped and ran forward to the motionless heap of fur, Brittany.

"No, no, no Brittany!" Alvin cried as he pulled her into her arms, looking down at her closed eyes.

He reached down and felt her stomach. It was very faint, but he felt it rise and fall with breath...she was alive.

"What did you do to her you _freak_!" Alvin roared up at the demon as he stared at it, tears streaming from his eyes.

The demon chuckled evilly as it looked back at Alvin.

_"Let the game...begin."_

And with those finals words, wraith-like flames suddenly engulfed the demon, flashing for a moment before crackling and disappearing into the darkness of the forest.

And all was silent...

* * *

><p><em><strong>And so the true battle...begins.<strong>_

_**...**_

**Haven to the Tears (BusyLovingChipmunks)  
><strong>


	12. Rise of Hell: Downfall

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 12 - Rise of Hell: Downfall**

**_The true enemy and evil has been discovered, it has hurt them. The game has begun..._**

**_When the Downfall comes...prepare yourself..._  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Part 1 - Finally, a moment of-...<br>**

* * *

><p>"Alvin."<p>

The red-clad chipmunk shook his head once more.

"Alvin please, this is ridiculous."

Still, Alvin ignored the request.

"Alvin," Vayle said for the fifth time now. "Give her to me, you're about to _collapse._" Vayle pleaded with him.

"Listen to him. It's been twenty minutes now, Alvin." Simon called from behind them.

Alvin didn't even turn; "No, it's my fault she's like this, I don't care how tired I-..."

But Alvin stopped mid-sentence, panting for breath.

He glanced over at the black-furred chipmunk who had stopped right beside him. "Fine."

Vayle stepped in front of Alvin and gently wrapped his sleeved arms around the unconscious form of the chipette in Alvin's arms.

Pulling her away and letting Alvin sigh in relief as she was lifted off his arms for the first time in the past half-hour.

Brittany was heavy, but Vayle managed to get a good grip on her, one arm under her back and one wrapped under and over her legs, elevating her carefully.

He looked down with weary eyes at the peaceful, unconscious form of the black-clad chipette.

Her stomach was rising and falling normally with each drawn breath, her eyes were fluttering ever so slightly as Vayle occasionally stepped over a tree root or a fallen log.

_Someone who looks so frail and innocent...has saved my life multiple times now. _Vayle thought to himself with a slight smile across his furry face.

"Guys, just to remind you. We're looking for a river, some source of water that we can camp by. It'll be safer and we will be needing water." Simon spoke up after a few silent minutes of walking.

The blue-clad chipmunk was holding on carefully to Jeanette, who had her arms wrapped around his shoulder. She was still weakened from using her power so much on the truck driving.

Jeanette grinned to herself as she recalled those few awesome moments.

"Hey guys! I hear something!" Theodore suddenly spoke up after a couple minutes.

The group stopped and perked their ears up, listening closely to catch the sound Theodore spoke of.

"Yea I hear it too!" Ether said excitedly.

It was the sound of calm rushing water trickling over rocks in the nighttime forest.

"Come on guys let's go!" Simon said as he headed in the direction of the water.

The rest of the group smiled to each other briefly before quickly following behind Simon and Jeanette.

After a couple minutes, they finally clambered over a small hill, and down in the bank below, was a calmly rushing river, the water clear and glinting in the bright moonlight above.

"Awesome!" Simon said as he held Jeanette tightly and led them down to the river bank.

Vayle held tightly onto Brittany as he slowly slid down the slippery hill and down to the bank below.

Theodore, Eleanor, and Ether all ran to the trickling waters while the Alvin, Simon, and Vayle walked over to a nearby patch of trees and bushes close to the water.

Simon walked over next to one of the bushes, helping Jeanette sit down on a soft spot of dirt and a patch of grass.

Vayle walked over to one of the thickest tree trunks, then glanced over at Alvin, who was watching Brittany, his eyes sorrowful.

"Don't worry Alvin, I got her for now, you go get some water first then I'll let you take over." Vayle carefully assured the red-clad chipmunk.

Alvin glanced at Vayle before slowly nodding. He turned around and walked towards the river edge, where the other three smaller chipmunks were happily slurping away at the calm, cool waters.

"Alright Jeanette, don't worry, I'll get you some water. You just sit and rest." Simon told the tired chipette as he placed his paw on her shoulder and looked into her violet eyes.

Jeanette blushed slightly as she slowly nodded.

Simon rose to his feet and trotted off to the river with the others.

Jeanette nestled into the small patch of warm grass. Simon had gotten a smooth rock for her to lean against.

Vayle searched the tree trunk for any jutting splinters or sharp rocks on the ground. Finding none, he carefully and slowly sat down against the bottom of it and sighed.

He felt Brittany shiver slightly so he shifted his arms and hugged her closer to him, in an attempt to produce more warmth to her body.

He smiled as he saw her sigh contently and curl her tiny fingers in a small embrace.

"Wow, this water sure is freezing. But it tastes great!" Ether said, smiling happily as she gulped a few more drops of the cold river water.

"Yea, sure is." Alvin said somberly as he drank in a few gulps as well.

Theodore and Eleanor weren't even talking, they were too busy guzzling as much liquid as they possibly could. They were parched and it was the perfect refreshment.

Simon chuckled as he watched the two smallest chipmunks crouched over, slurping up water like wild dogs.

...

"Alright here you go Jen, drink up." Simon said as he handed Jeanette a curled up leaf. A few gulps worth of water was held inside it.

"Thank you Simon." Jeanette smiled as she drank in the cool water.

"Oh and here's some for Brittany." Simon handed a curled up leaf to Vayle.

"No, that's alright. I can do it." Alvin suddenly said as he walked forward.

Vayle nodded as Alvin slowly sat down beside him.

He gently lifted Brittany's unconscious body over and handed her to Alvin.

The red-clad chipmunk smiled down at the peaceful form of the sleeping chipette.

He wrapped his loving arms around her, offering the same heat Vayle was.

Simon handed him the water, "Thanks." Alvin said to his brother as he took the leaf.

He then gently lowered it down to Brittany's lips, pointing the tip of it into her mouth and letting the water trickle down.

Brittany automatically gulped it down, a slight content smile was played across her furry face.

"Well anyway, Vayle. Come help me gather some wood, we gotta make a fire, it's pretty cold and we aren't going to last long like this." Simon spoke as he looked around at the group, all huddled around in a small circle, gathered together, bundled in leaves and in small patches of grass.

But everybody was still shivering slightly from the cold November night air.

Vayle nodded as he walked off into the bushes with Simon.

A few minutes of silence passed. Nobody really had anything to say.

Theodore and Eleanor hugged each other closely, laying against the tree next to Alvin and Brittany.

Ether was sitting against a rock, she pushed one up next to Jeanette and was curled up in a couple soft bushy leafs taken from the nearby fungi.

Alvin was staring down into Brittany's peaceful face. He watched with a smile on his face as her furry eyelids twitched every few seconds.

He assumed she was just having a mild dream, so he didn't worry about it.

And right when Alvin decided everything was okay and laid his head back and closed his eyes...

Brittany jolted awake.

Alvin yelped slightly as the chipette pushed away from him with lightning speed.

She landed two feet away, on her feet, arms lashed out in a defensive stance, paws burning with orange flames in the night forest.

It illuminated the small clearing, reveling her face and making her eyes glint.

Alvin stared with shock at her, merely a moment ago, she was laying there, sleeping peacefully...

Now she was staring at him like he was going to kill her.

"Blood, screams, it can't be. You won't accomplish it." Brittany spoke softly as she stared into Alvin's eyes.

"Brittany...are you okay?" Alvin asked calmly, but fearfully.

"I don't want, no...I don't want it."

"Brittany!" Alvin shouted with fear in his voice...this was seeming familiar.

He slowly rose to his feet...and took a very tiny step forward.

That's when Brittany's ice-blue eyes narrowed, she glared with rage back at the red-clad chipmunk, lowering her head while keeping her eyes fixed on him.

Theodore rose to his feet as he watched the scene before him.

One second passed.

Brittany stepped back and flashed her flaming paws forward, a blistering fountain of pure orange and white flame shot out and rushed towards Alvin.

He gasped with surprise and instinctively covered his arms. But the act was useless, a flamethrower blast at near point-blank range...he was toast.

"Brittany, NO!"

A second flash, and the forest exploded with light.

The massive jet of flames was blasted away like a wave of water hitting a solid wall.

It splashed out and upwards as the fire was pushed away.

The blistering heat pushed around the chipette and dissipated into the air.

After a few moments, Alvin finally lowered his arms and looked forward.

Theodore was standing directly in front of him, arms raised, pointing at Brittany.

Brittany was staring above Theodore's head, eyes fixed on Alvin's.

But they were not staring at him, they were blank. Staring straight _through_ him.

Brittany finally snapped out of her trance and shook her head.

She looked down at her still flaming paws, and looked in front of her.

Theodore was staring at her, eyes fixed on hers as he had his arms raised, just in case.

His face was illuminated slightly from the flames on her paws, his green eyes glinting in the light.

Brittany slowly lowered her arms and stared at Theodore, her mouth slightly open, not knowing what to do or say.

Finally, a tear leaked down her face as she suddenly collapsed down into Theodore's arms.

Theodore gasped but quickly grabbed onto her, letting her fall into him and cry into his shoulder.

He wasn't really sure what to say so he reached around and patted her back in an attempt to comfort the crying chipette.

"What exactly just happened?"

Apparently Simon and Vayle had returned in time to see the whole thing.

"She just woke up angry, and attacked Alvin for no reason." Ether whispered to them as they walked over and set the firewood down that they had gathered.

"Brittany, are you okay?" Simon asked her as he walked over and looked at the chipette held in Theodore's arms.

Theodore glanced nervously at Alvin then at Simon. "She's asleep." He said quietly.

Simon looked surprised. "That quick? Huh, strange."

Alvin walked forward and looked at Brittany, still held carefully by the green-clad chipmunk.

Her breaths were small and shallow as she slept quietly, a few tears still glistened on Theodore's shoulder.

"Alvin, maybe I should lay down with her? Just in case." Theodore said innocently, trying not to hurt his brother's feelings.

The red-clad chipmunk stared at Brittany for a moment before nodding as a small tear formed in his eye.

She had tried to _kill _him. He would be dead if Theodore hadn't blown the blast out of the way.

He nodded again slowly and walked away, plopping down against the tree and covering his face in his arms.

Jeanette and Eleanor were still too shocked to speak. Theodore walked over and sat down next to Eleanor, doing his best to hold Brittany in his arms, but she was bigger than him so it was difficult.

"Alright guys, she's fine for now. So let's just calm down and relax." Simon said, "And let's get this fire started."

"How do you propose we do that?" Vayle asked curiously.

Simon was about to speak, but glanced at Brittany. "Uh...actually, I'm not sure." Simon said with embarrassment.

"I got an idea!" Ether suddenly said, smiling brightly.

"Let's hear it." Vayle said as he smiled at her.

"Jeanette!" Ether said, pointing to the purple-clad chipette.

"Me? How can I make a fire?" Jeanette asked with surprise.

"Your electricity! I've seen in movies if electricity hits hard enough against a solid surface, it will make sparks!" Ether explained excitedly.

Simon looked impressed, that was something he didn't think of.

"Yea Jeanette, we could use a rock. If you shoot it, it might make sparks, which we can use to light a fire." Simon explained as he crouched down and took Jeanette's paw in his.

"Do you think you can do it?" He asked gently as he looked into her eyes.

They twinkled slightly as she blushed once more at Simon's touch.

"Of course, S-Simon, I can try." Jeanette said with a smile.

Simon smiled back and stood up, walking over to the pile of wood and picking up a nearby stone, it was a large enough target.

He looked back at Jeanette while holding the stone above the wood pile.

"Alright Jen, I'm gonna toss this in the air, and you try to shoot it with a bolt of electricity alright?" Simon explained as he stared into her eyes.

Jeanette nodded with determination, raising one of her paws and aiming it at the stone.

She pushed the warm energy through her body end let it flow into her paw. The massive energy once again flowed throughout her, giving a strange but gentle buzzing feeling to her bones.

Her paw flashed with blue, crackling energy...Jeanette smiled.

Simon tossed the stone into the air and dived down onto the floor.

Jeanette shot the bolt from her paws...and missed.

The stone landed in the wood pile, untouched. While the deadly bolt of electricity soared through the air and slammed into a hanging branch, igniting it into flames immediately.

Jeanette gasped, Simon jolted up and ran forward.

He thought quickly and raised his paws forward, drawing over water from the nearby river and shooting it quickly at the flaming branch, drenching it in water and extinguishing the flames.

He sighed in relief as he walked back over to the wood pile, picking up the stone.

"Alright Jeanette, good, that was close. But this time, try to focus hard on it okay?" Simon said with a grin.

"Okay, Simon." Jeanette said with a solid nod, her eyes fixed on the stone.

Simon waited one moment, and tossed the stone in the air, diving to the ground once more.

Jeanette inhaled deeply, and shot forward.

The bolt flew through the air and collided head-on into the stone.

The bolt flashed and the stone burned a bright white before exploding in mid-air, Sending a shower of sparks down into the wood pile. While the fragments flew in every direction. The pieces were too tiny to do any damage.

Simon looked up and smiled as he saw the sparks doing their work, the wood was slowly igniting into small embers and catching flame.

"Good work Jeanette!" Simon said as he ran over and hugged her.

Jeanette, once again, blushed deeply. "Thanks Simon." She spoke quietly.

Simon smiled and walked back over to the wood pile, now burning slightly as the flames spread.

"Alright guys, now we have some warmth. I say, let's get some good rest. We've had a really long night." He explained to the group all gathered in a semi-circle.

"Good idea." Vayle said as he hugged Ether closer to him. They were sharing their warmth just like everybody else, except Alvin.

Simon walked over and sat down with Jeanette and embraced her also. He smiled as she nestled into his chest and yawned at the comforting hug.

He glanced around at the group. Theodore was holding onto Brittany while she slept in his arms. Eleanor was leaned over onto his shoulder, her eyes drooping. Alvin was just sitting there against the trunk of the tree by himself. Simon wanted to say something but he figured it best if Alvin had his alone time for now. Ether and Vayle were holding onto each other as their eyes started to slowly close.

"Goodnight everybody." Simon said with a yawn as he closed his eyes and laid his head on top of Jeanette's.

He received only a few mumbled replies.

And after a few minutes, everybody was quietly snoring away in the quiet night.

Damaged, frightened, insecure. But for the moment...they were happy...

But since when does evil give breaks?

* * *

><p><strong>Part 2 - Nightmares? Reality? No difference...<strong>

* * *

><p>It was unclear how much time had passed, but the moon was still bright in the sky while the night was dark.<p>

Eleanor suddenly rose to her feet.

She did not know why, but she woke up. And she needed to walk, right now.

She didn't even bother at all to look at any of her friends or siblings, she just strolled past the burning wood pile and towards opposite direction of the riverbank.

Blindly through the dark, silent forest, she kept walking.

She was not asleep, at least not technically.

Her body just dragged itself on and on through the bushes, stopping for nothing as she kept on...

She finally came upon a small hill. Without stopping, she clambered up it and looked down when she reached the top.

It led down into a small bowl-like rock bed. A few boulders and random logs were scattered around the small rock bed.

The moon above shone down brightly upon the rocky bowl. Illuminating everything in its hue.

Eleanor's eyes grazed across it for a moment before walking down into the ravine.

After a few seconds, she reached the bottom. And kept walking.

The tiny chipette walked around the stones and logs carelessly.

At last, she reached the middle of the ravine. Standing there, motionless.

And then...Eleanor gasped.

"Wha-?" Eleanor said fearfully as she noticed that she was standing, and standing, in the middle of a small rock bed.

The utterly confused chipette looked around in complete shock.

_'How did I get here?'_ Eleanor frantically wondered to herself as she spun around, searching for something that might answer her question.

But she found nothing, only giant rocks and random logs and branches everywhere.

Eleanor finally decided she couldn't just stay here, it looked dangerous and she should try to get back to the camp.

She stepped one paw forward in the direction of the hill...and stopped.

A growl sounded and echoed loudly throughout the rock bed and surrounding trees.

Eleanor's blood ran cold at the noise, and she slowly turned around in its direction.

The small chipette gasped in fear as she spotted a wolf, standing at the top of the rock bed, looking down at her with its dark eyes. It was standing slightly in the moonlight, it front paws and head peeking out just barely.

Eleanor simply stared back at in, mouth open slightly, she wanted with all her heart, to scream. But she knew the act would be useless.

That's when Eleanor suddenly spotted two other figures appear from the shadows on either side of the wolf...it was two more of the deadly canines.

All three pairs of dark eyes glared at Eleanor through the moonlight.

The middle wolf, raised its large head up...and howled.

Eleanor gulped...and the two wolves on its side, suddenly jumped into the air and down towards the small chipette.

They crashed into the ground firmly and lunged towards her.

Eleanor yelped as she quickly dodged the attack, diving behind a log quickly, the sharp teeth barely missing her.

The two wolves growled angrily and snapped at the edge of the log, it shattered in splinters, revealing Eleanor curled up on the other side.

She gasped and quickly hopped out of the way as one of them lunged down towards her again.

The wolf's teeth only bit down onto pebbles as Eleanor jumped onto its nose and launched herself away.

She soared through the air a moment before landing on a boulder, and pushed off again, gaining distance from the two wolves.

Eleanor was a few feet away, she panted heavily as she stared at the two wolves standing there, watching her.

She looked into their eyes, both a dull hue of brownish yellow.

That's when Eleanor realized. "You're not demons..." She slowly spoke to herself as she looked into their predatory eyes.

It was just a small wolf pack on the hunt, and she was the night prey.

But this did not falter Eleanor's sudden idea. And she raised her paws.

"You want to kill me and eat me for dinner? Fine, but I'm not going down without a fight!" Eleanor smiled as she circulated energy around her, and pushed it out in all direction.

Enveloping all the earthly stones in the area, which she so happened to have control over.

And with a tiny flick of her wrists, the pebbles and some of the boulders slowly levitated into the air, defying gravity.

Eleanor grinned again. "Come on!" She shouted at the two wolves standing there, dumbstruck at the floating rocks around them.

But one of them snapped out of it at Eleanor voice, and lunged towards her, knocking floating pebbles out of the way as it rushed towards her at full speed.

Eleanor was prepared, she moved her paw, bringing forward a large floating stone, and she aimed.

With a powerful thrust, the large, solid stone flew forward.

Eleanor quickly tried to look away, and cringed as she heard the sickening _'crack'_ as the stone collided into the wolf's skull.

It's large body fell to the ground and slid a couple feet from its running velocity, stopping just short of the chipette standing there, victorious.

Dark, crimson blood slowly trickled out of the wolf's ear as it breathed its final breath...and died.

Eleanor glared down at the corpse, feeling sorrowful for the poor animal. But it did try to kill her...

The remaining wolf stared upon its friend in horror, and its dark-yellow eyes switched to Eleanor's lime-green ones.

She stared back at the wolf glaring at her, flexing her wrists out, more stone rocks floated towards her, ready.

But the wolf suddenly took off to the side, dashing in a super-fast zigzag pattern towards Eleanor, it was smart.

She flashed her paws out, throwing multiple small and large stones in the direction of the incoming creature...but it was nimble and dodged every one of them.

Right as Eleanor raised her paws for a giant stone toss...the wind was knocked out of her as the wolf's paw slammed into her stomach.

The tiny chipette was launched back into the air, crashing into the ground a few feet away, gasping in pain as she hit the rocky ground...hard.

...

Alvin's eyes snapped open.

He heard a loud noise. He wasn't sure exactly what it was but it was real, and it woke him up.

The red-clad chipmunk quickly wiped his face and scrambled onto his feet.

He took a quick look around and noticed Ether rising to her feet, leaning Vayle down against the smooth rock gently.

"What was that?" Alvin whispered to her as she walked forward.

"It sounded like a wolf howl, I used to hear them all the time." Ether said as she squinted into the darkness of the forest beyond their small campsite.

Alvin squinted through it as well, looking carefully for any type of movement.

"Any idea why they would be howling?" Alvin asked curiously.

"Usually I'd be able to tell the reason of the call, but no I didn't catch it this time. Sorry." Ether said in disappointment.

Alvin sighed, and looked around to see if anyone else had woken up.

Theodore was still asleep, holding Brittany tightly. While Simon and Jeanette were holding each other lovingly as well, snoring quietly.

"Well maybe we should go back to sl-..." Alvin stopped dead in mid-sentence, and spun back around.

There was a missing chipette. "Ether...where...is...Eleanor?" Alvin asked slowly as fear crept inside him. The lime-green chipette was nowhere to be seen.

Ether spun around and quickly noticed that Eleanor was gone, her eyes widened in fear.

"Oh my God..."

The two chipmunks standing there, dead silently, suddenly heard another noise.

It was a ferocious growl. The noise was faint, and in the distance, but they caught it.

Alvin and Ether quickly glanced at each other. Silent fear and worry was almost smellable in the air.

Without another word...they took off running into the dark forest.

...

Eleanor was out of breath, she could barely move from the horrible pain in her back.

All the floating pebbles and stones suddenly crashed into the ground once more.

The wolf slowly walked up to the fallen chipette, its dark-yellow eyes staring down hungrily at its defeated prey.

And without another second's wait...the wolf's jaws opened wide as it prepared to put Eleanor out of her misery.

Eleanor didn't have time to say goodbye to the world, to tell her sisters she loved them one last time, to pray, to breath, to move, to blink. Because the next second...

_'SLAM!'_

A mahogany-black blur shot in front of Eleanor's eyes as the wolf was launched off its feet, slamming into the ground ten feet away...and before it could recover, a chipmunk landed directly on top of it, crashing it into the ground again.

The wolf whimpered in pain, but the chipmunk suddenly lashed its black-clad arm out, and it glowed a luminescent, wraith-like black in the moonlight. And it formed flames of darkness around until they collected into the shape of a sharp blade.

And before the wolf could move again, the chipmunk thrust the dark blade into the creature's neck.

The wolf let out as soft cry of surprise as the blood spilled out of its veins and leaked out onto its dark fur.

After a few quiet moments, the wolf's eyes rolled upwards as its life slipped away.

The chipmunk yanked its blade-wielding arm out of the wolf's bleeding neck, and flicked its wrist, letting the dark flames die away.

It then hopped off the dead wolf and and turned around.

Eleanor gasped. The chipmunk was black-clad in a dirty trench coat that hung to his knees.

His fur was a silky, mahogany brown in the moonlight, while his eyes glinted a forest green.

The wolf-like chipmunk didn't even glance at Eleanor. He walked forward, eyes locked on the Alpha wolf that was staring down at him, both pairs of green eyes locked with anger.

The black wolf howled once more into the night before growling and launching itself down towards the chipmunk.

It opened its large jaws and clamped them shut onto the chipmunk, but he jumped away just in time, landing behind the wolf. He suddenly raised his black-clad arm, and energy burst from his paw.

It was like the black flames before, but this time, they formed something different.

It was a glowing orb of darkness, building bigger and bigger until it was as large as the chipmunk's head.

The wolf turned around and glared into the chipmunk's eyes, snarling with rage.

But the chipmunk didn't back down, he stood his ground, orb glowing wraith-like in the moonlight.

Sparing not another moment...the wolf lunged forward, teeth and claws bared.

The chipmunk launched into the air towards the wolf...and they collided.

The wolf snapped its jaws angrily as the chipmunk landed on its mouth and suddenly thrust the orb of darkness down its throat.

He then launched himself off the wolf...landing safely, a few feet away.

The trees around started to shake violently as the wolf roared in agony.

The dark flames of the orb were slowly enveloping him from the inside out.

It roared and screamed helplessly as the dark took him over...finally, the flames burned over his outside body.

And when they dissipated into the air...the wolf was gone.

A few moments of silence followed the death of the wolves.

The chipmunk stood there, staring at the spot where the wolf disappeared, then he spoke.

"Goodbye, brother."

He then stood up and turned towards the chipette on the ground.

Eleanor looked at him with curiosity as he walked up to her.

"Hello, Eleanor." He spoke in a dark voice.

Eleanor then gasped again. That did it, the voice made her remember...

"Phelan..." Eleanor breathed out, her heart suddenly sank with fear.

"That's right my dear, it's me." Phelan spoke in an evil voice as his fur slowly burnt away into ashes with black flames. Disintegrating the silky mahogany color, and leaving behind an ugly, dirty black color.

His forest-green eyes melted away into a blood-red color, giving him the complete look of a demonic chipmunk.

Eleanor was injured, weak from using so much power on the stones, and barely able to move from the pain in her back...and now massive fear struck into her.

"Wh-what do you w-want from me?" Eleanor asked shakily as she tried to move her hind paws in a position to push herself away, but pain shot through her limbs.

Her spine must've been hit too, and now she was sore all around, barely able to move.

"Oh don't worry Ellie, I was just hoping for us to spend a little bit of...quality time together..." Phelan spoke with a devilish grin on his face.

Eleanor stared back at him with fear, unable to defend herself, unable to move. And she still barely could breath from the impact, she couldn't even scream.

Phelan smiled as he realized all this, and he lunged down and clamped his paw around Eleanor's neck, yanking her upward into the air and holding her that way, dangling her an inch above the ground.

Eleanor gasped for air as she reached for Phelan's paw, it was crushing her windpipe, cutting off the short supply of air she already had.

"ELEANOR!"

The chipette turned her head and spotted two other chipmunks, standing at the top of the rock hill...Alvin and Ether.

Phelan turned his head...and stared into Alvin's eyes as he winked.

And with that, black flames flashed over him and Eleanor, engulfing them immediately.

One second they were there, the next...they were gone.

* * *

><p><strong>On this night...<strong>

* * *

><p>"Kidnapped?" Simon said incredulously as he heard the words come out of Ether's mouth.<p>

"Yes, we heard wolves growling like crazy, and when we finally reached the source, there she was, held by the neck of this chipmunk who looked almost exactly like Vayle...and they disappeared." Ether carefully explained again for the third time to the group.

Jeanette burst out crying as she heard it again. Simon instinctively pulled her into an embrace and let her cry into his shoulder.

"Alvin is this true? Was Eleanor kidnapped?" Simon asked his brother, wanting to hear it from his mouth.

The red-clad chipmunk raised his head from his arms and looked straight into Simon's eyes. "Yea, Simon, it's true."

Simon looked away with sorrow, barely able to handle it, he couldn't stand to see Jeanette cry like this and certainly could not handle the fact of Eleanor being lost.

"We've got to go look for her." Vayle spoke up suddenly.

"No, that's crazy, they just transported out of there...they could be anywhere by now. There's no point." Alvin said as he stared at the ground blankly.

A minute of quiet passed. Jeanette continued to cry into Simon's shoulder.

"Should we wake them?" Ether asked as she looked at the sleeping forms of Theodore and Brittany, nestled closely against each other, snoring peacefully.

"No, they need their rest. Waking them up won't help, besides, Brittany might still be unstable..." Alvin told Ether as he watched the sleeping Brittany, his eyes soft.

Ether nodded and everybody just let the moments pass as they thought about what had happened...

The group snapped to attention as they heard a rustle come from one of the nearby bushes.

They looked around, listening closely, it sounded like something small, but they could never be too sure.

A black blur suddenly smacked into Simon and Jeanette, sending them soaring a couple feet away, crashing into the ground.

Standing there before the group...was a raccoon, snarling ravenously at the group as its black-furred head swiveled around, bright yellow eyes glaring at the chipmunks.

It lashed forward, snapping at Alvin with its razor sharp teeth.

The red-clad chipmunk bolted out of the way just in time.

The large raccoon crashed into the ground, slicing its sharp claws through the air, scattering the group around.

Vayle thought quickly, and picked up a nearby stone he saw, and with all his strength, he launched the stone at the back of the animal.

The solid rock collided with the raccoon's back, making it yelp slightly, and turn around, yellow eyes fixed on Vayle with anger.

"Uh-oh..." Vayle said to himself as he stared at the raccoon, it snarled.

"RUN!" Simon yelled at Vayle.

The black-furred chipmunk nodded and bolted off in the opposite direction.

The raccoon hissed angrily and lunged after Vayle, sprinting full-speed after the small chipmunk.

Vayle frantically scurried through the dark forest. There were many patches lit by moonlight but most was covered by the thick tree branches above.

He swiftly dodged bushes and low hanging vines, sliding down patches of grass and pebbles.

The raccoon was hot on his tail, merely inches away from biting his tail off as it angrily snapped at him.

Vayle ducked under a fallen log and dashed ahead. The raccoon managed to smash straight through the already weakened wood, crashing through and continuing the chase.

The chipmunk's fur wasn't doing much to camouflage him in the darkness, the raccoon had his scent and was not giving up.

Vayle was slowly running out of stamina as he rushed through the forest desperately.

He finally got and idea, and quickly jumped onto the nearest tree.

He locked his claws into it and tried to climb upward, smiling as he thought he was going to get away.

But the raccoon had other plans. It planted its feet into the ground and launched upward.

Soaring into the air and lashing its sharp claws outward, managing to slice the back of Vayle's leg, just barely.

Vayle yelped as the sharp pain shot into his leg, the raccoon crashed back to the ground. And right as Vayle lost his balance and slipped off...the tree exploded.

Reality was bent as the pain shot through Vayle and he fell towards the ground. There was no splinters, the tree was completely disintegrated...but it still shot out a blast, which sent the small chipmunk crashing to the ground below.

Vayle groaned in pain from the slice, but didn't have time to pay attention to it, the raccoon was right there.

He jumped out of the way just in time again as the claws came perilously close to slicing him open in a lethal spot, then jolted forward again, continuing the run and chase.

Vayle was quicker this time, he nimbly dodged the branches and vines, ducking under logs and sliding down rocky paths perfectly.

He was starting to almost run in a large circle, not wanting to go too far away from the group.

And right as Vayle was thinking which direction to turn next...he felt a force slam into his back, and send him crashing forward onto the ground, sliding a good couple feet on a patch of grass before stopping.

He had flipped over and slid on his back, finally stopping, Vayle groaned and dropped his head against the grass he was laying on, feeling exhausted.

Wanting to just give up, muscles aching too much to carry on further, Vayle rose his head slightly to look at the raccoon. It had stopped a few feet away and was now staring at the chipmunk lying on the ground, eyes glinting as they were basked in a pool of moonlight. It was snarling angrily, not taking its beady eyes off him as its mouth dripped saliva onto the ground.

Vayle dropped his head back down, disagreeing with what his mind told him. He wanted to succumb to his body and just sleep. Just end his torture that his muscles, bones, and lungs were enduring right now.

And right when the black-furred chipmunk was about to completely give up, about to surrender and go to sleep, about to doom the universe to chaos by forfeiting his life...-

_"Vayle..."_

The chipmunk's eyes snapped wide open as he heard the strange voice echo around him.

He was in a blur, his muscles so weak he could barely move, but he managed to turn his head to the side and look at the source of the sudden voice.

Vayle gasped with unexplainable surprise at what he saw...

There was a chipmunk standing there...a chipette. Cloaked just behind the shadows of the night, standing out of the moonlight, merely a couple feet away from Vayle.

She was staring at him through the darkness. Her bright-green eyes unblinking.

Vayle was shaking as he stared back at the chipette, his eyes never faltering from the sight.

He thought he was looking at an angel, maybe he was, but he was more confused, scared, and surprised than he had ever been in his entire life.

And finally, after a few moments of silence...Vayle spoke.

"Vinny?"

The shadowy form of the chipette shifted as it stared back at Vayle with her angelic green eyes.

And Vayle stared in wonder as he saw her shadowed lips slowly form a slight smile.

Vayle was silent in hallowed surprise and confusion as he watched her. She just stared back at him, as though they were taking in each other as much as possible.

_"Live, or Die...On this night..."_

Vayle eyes went wide as she spoke again, the beautiful angel voice poured into his ears and soothed him.

His eyes were suddenly drawn down on the ground, her tail suddenly moved out into the moonlight, illuminating the silky, ocher-fur brightly.

Vayle stared in wonder as he saw the tip of the tail was not normal, it ended in a dark black smoke that poured infinitely out into the air.

He then watched as the the tail slowly uncurled itself around and moved slowly back into the shadows.

Where the tail was...there was now a small black knife, sticking out of the ground.

Vayle stared at it in wonder, the shiny black metal glinted in the moonlight.

When Vayle looked back up at the shadowy chipette...there was nothing there...she was gone.

The raccoon suddenly snarled as it took a step toward Vayle, snapping him to attention.

Vayle now felt a new strength running through him. A colossal power that he had never felt before.

He quickly scrambled over to the knife sticking out of the ground, kicking dirt and grass into the air in his haste.

He grasped onto the black handle and yanked it out of the ground.

Rising to his feet...Vayle felt like a god...

The glinting black knife poured new found power inside him. It was completely incredible.

That's when Vayle looked down and noticed something else sticking out of the forest floor.

It was a flower...a white flower, glowing a bright pink in its tiny middle.

Vayle reached down and gently picked it up. Staring deep into the glow.

He had no idea what it meant, or its significance. But it was beautiful, and soft. Pure. Free. Amazing.

Vayle then looked forward at the snarling raccoon, it was carefully watching Vayle's every move, deciding its time to attack.

"You're willing to kill me, to end the universal balance over a simple meal?" Vayle said with a slight laugh as he stared into the yellow eyes of the wild raccoon. It just growled back at him.

Vayle sighed as he closed his eyes, praying for help. "So be it." He said as his eyes flashed open and he met those of the raccoon with a glare.

He didn't take his eyes off the creature as he reached his arms out, sliding his legs and body into a fighting stance, he twirled the black blade around in his paw before clamping his paw tightly around it, his thumb pressed onto the tip of the hilt, ready for his Stand.

Vayle stared deep into the eyes of the raccoon as he released the white flower.

"Live..."

The flower slowly dropped towards the earth...

"Or Die..."

The petals fluttering softly in the breeze of gravity as its peaceful fall neared its end...

"On this night..."

The flower touched the ground...

...

...

...

Vayle...lunged.

* * *

><p><strong>In the arms of the angel...let the warrior fly...<strong>

**_The newly discovered theme for Dreamhaven is 'Collide' by Skillet. Feel free to check this epic song out for the full experience...  
><em>**

**Until next time...**

**...**

**Haven to the Night (BusyLovingChipmunks)  
><strong>


	13. Moments That Define Us

**Dreamhaven**

**Chapter 13 - Moments That Define Us**

**_Indeed it has been quite a while since my last chapter. Only about three weeks. But alas, the time was put to good use. _**

**_Along with the awesome help from my friends; Periosha and Wind, I have been able to produce my best chapter yet. And longest. Probably one of the longest chapters you'll ever read._**

**_Also, I would like to say a thank you to Pancakez. Thank you for being such a great friend and help. Hope you enjoy it. _**

**And without too much further ado...enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>. . .<strong>

**Ether Veil Status: ...Intact.**

**. . .**

He wasn't sure exactly how he felt right now.

Sick, that was definitely one of his feelings...but there was a few more in there. What were they?

Confusion; probably the biggest one clouding his thoughts right now…

But yet, many more existed in the chipmunk's body, but he was in far too much pain to think about them.

Pain...a lot of pain...

Sadness too; complete and utter sadness.

Vayle's small body shook gently with tiny sobs as he lay on top of the raccoon's body.

Not wanting to move, he just wanted to cry into the dark fur forever; he could, but he knew he shouldn't.

Hesitantly and slowly, Vayle pushed himself off the dark-furred body, pulling the black knife out of the raccoon's neck; he slid off the branch and crashed back into the ground. He felt his body scream in pain from the impact, his tired body regaining its breath as he lay there half-lifelessly.

But Vayle didn't care. He just picked himself back up and, ignoring his current condition, began limping over to one of the nearby trees.

He dropped the bloody, dripping knife onto the ground as it shattered the silence when it clinked against the pebbles.

Vayle sighed as he spun around and plopped down against the tree trunk.

He yelped as he pushed onto his tail. He had forgotten it was almost sprained during the fight, it was aching badly; the useful appendage twitching madly as it was pure muscle, and it pained him to even try moving it.

His entire body was stained with blood; sweater, face, arms, legs, it was just everywhere.

It was quite a battle... one that he couldn't believe he won

Vayle blinked his eyes in annoyance as more fresh tears flooded them.

_What just happened?_ Vayle asked himself.

He wasn't even sure of the events that had just occurred.

One minute: sleep. The next: Eleanor is kidnapped. Then a raccoon attacks the group and chases him around the forest. And then…

_What?_ He screamed in his head, his thoughts were beginning to ramble._ What happened next? What am I missing?_

Vayle's conscience argued back.

_Oh you know... you just fought a giant creature bent on ending the dimensions of this reality..._

_NO! It was just an innocent raccoon trying to get food! Nothing more! _Vayle assured himself.

_And you managed killed it... congratulations… _His conscience argued back.

_It was going to kill me! I just saved the whole freaking world! And more! _Vayle mentally shouted back.

_But you killed it. There's blood on your paws. Heck, there's blood all over you. You're a murderer now..._

And for a minute, Vayle believed himself. He had just slaughtered an innocent animal.

But he didn't want to think about it, he couldn't, he shouldn't!

Vayle pushed the thought away and tried to think about something else. He had to focus, get his senses back together.

_What about the flower? What was up with that? Why was it glowing pink?_ Vayle randomly asked, hoping that voice would answer him.

Then it hit him…

He had dropped the flower, right before he lunged at the raccoon.

Vayle turned his head, looking for the tiny white and pink flower somewhere on the ground. But it was long gone.

_Oh well..._ Vayle said to himself with a sigh as he looked up at the bright moonlight above, blaring down onto the dead body of the raccoon in the small clearing.

_What about..._ Vayle's eyes slowly looked down and stared at the bloody, black knife sitting on the ground a few inches away.

"Vinny..." He whispered aloud into the cold night air, his hot breath fogging from the cold night air.

"What the hell happened to you…?"

_Silence…_

And Vayle felt his body give in, and he fell back to the ground.

He was tired, he was in pain; he wanted to sleep. But his thoughts won't let him be.

...

_Vayle hopped through the bush, landing on the other side and skidding across the sunny, leaf-covered forest floor._

_"Vayle, why are you stopping? She said run!" Ether said as she skidded across the ground, stopping next to her cousin._

_The two tiny black-furred chipmunks stood there for a moment, but Vayle turned and looked Ether in the eyes._

_"I have to see…" he said before taking off back into the bush._

_Ether reached out towards him but he didn't stop. "No Vayle, please! We have to get going!"_

_But Vayle ignored her. He sprinted through the many leaves and branches as fast as his furry baby limbs would carry him._

_Finally, he made it to the clearing. But he stopped right there, not wanting to burst out from the bushes, he stopped and stared upon the scene before him._

_It was a bright clearing of soft, greenish-hazel grass, changing color prematurely from the season._

_The trees around were a multitude of gold, orange, or red leaves, giving the entire forest a bright, sunny hue._

_In the middle of this large clearing of grass, stood a chipette, standing firm and holding her ground._

_She was completely still, looking around in every direction in silence. Fortunately, Vayle was well-hidden in the bright leaves so she did not spot him._

_Ether quietly walked up behind Vayle, she was thankful that she had caught up to him._

_"Vayle please, we have to go back!" Ether whispered to him as she looked at the chipette in the middle of the clearing._

_But Vayle ignored her. He kept his tiny eyes fixed on the chipette; he didn't like it, but he knew something was going to happen._

_"Please, Vinny told us to run. I don't think it's safe!" she pleaded, tears streaking from her violet and blue eyes._

_"I know Ether, but I have to see what she meant. I'm tired of just running every time someone tells us to." Vayle said as he pushed Ether's shaking arm away._

_Ether was about to argue back, but was interrupted._

_"Show yourself!" The chipette shouted throughout the clearing. _

_As if on cue, a low growl echoed around the trees, and a dark laugh was heard..._

_"Vinny...hasten not your demise, it will only sadden you further."_

_The chipette smiled as she swiftly reached into the side holster of a black leather strap that wrapped around her shoulder and arms._

_Her ocher-furred paw pulled out an object, its black metal glinted in the bright sunlight._

_Vayle stared at it for a moment before Vinny flipped it through her paw and clamped it tightly in an embrace, the blade-end of the black knife, pointed forward._

_"Who said I was sad?" Vinny spoke quietly into the clearing, her bright green eyes scanning the trees and bushes a few feet away._

_Another demonic laugh reverberated around in the trees. _

_"Oh I don't even have to ask, for I have seen what you have done...and it is pitiful. They will not be protected."_

_Vayle saw Vinny's eyes falter for a moment before staring straight forward as the bush a few feet away suddenly ruffled slightly._

_Something tiny burst out of it and into the grass clearing._

_Ether and Vayle watched in confusion as a tiny chipmunk walked forward through the grasses toward Vinny._

_"He-he's just a baby...just like us..." Ether whispered as they watched the tiny thing curiously, his fur was soft and fluffy and light brown, his eyes a slight golden-hazel, easily matching the trees surrounding them. _

_Vinny watched the chipmunk and gritted her teeth; her eyes were filled with anger and hatred, but they were locked onto the tiny thing, and sadness and sorrow began etching on her face._

_"Mama..."_

_Vinny looked like she was about to break into tears that moment...her blade-wielding paw shook slightly before she took a step back._

_A single drop glinted in her eye as she angrily thrust the black blade forward..._

_Ether's scream was cut off as Vayle swiftly clamped his paw over her mouth and brought them both onto the ground._

_He was already shaking with fright at what they had seen. They looked away just in time, but they had seen enough._

_"Come on Ether, we're getting out of here." Vayle said as he helped pull Ether to her feet, gripping her tightly and not allowing her to turn around even once as they ran away deep into the sunny forest._

...

"Wake up!"

Vayle's eyes snapped wide open at the sudden voice, cutting his nightmare off.

The black-furred chipmunk gasped as he quickly sat up against the tree, panting.

The horror of that memory still haunting him; he wiped a paw on his sweaty forehead as he regained his senses and tried to focus back on reality.

His panting breaths began to slow as he looked around and noticed he was in the same spot as before, sitting on the forest floor, his back against a tree, the dead body of the slaughtered raccoon laying there in the moonlight a few feet away.

Vayle slowly raised his head and glared forward at the source of the voice that had woken him.

"What do you want?" Vayle spoke as he looked back down at his feet, trying to ignore the dark blood splatters painted all over him.

"Are you alright?" Kharos asked worriedly.

"Why? It's not like you'd actually care." Vayle snapped back, not even raising his head to look at the Spotted Owl standing before him.

Kharos was taken aback at Vayle's words. "What? Of course I care, Vayle." Kharos replied while he watched the tiny chipmunk with confusion.

"Oh yea, that's right. It's not _me_ you care about...it's just the stupid Veil." The blood-stained chipmunk retorted as he picked at a few random grass blades on the ground.

"Vayle, don't speak such things, I love you and Ether very much, you've always known that." Kharos replied gently as he tried to catch Vayle's eyes, but the chipmunk continued to look away.

"What about my aunt, huh? You remember how you sent Lyla out to die that one night?" Vayle shot back, anger flaring in his yellow and green eyes.

Kharos' previous gentle face quickly sparked into anger as well. "You're stepping out of line, Vayle. You have no right talking like that, you know very well that's not what happened."

After that, Vayle looked away with a frustrated grunt; he was still angry, but he knew he had gone too far by suddenly blurting that out.

"What about Vinny? What ever happened to her?" Vayle suddenly asked again.

Kharos' eyes widened with shock at the mention of the name.

"What, how did you know about Vinny?" he suddenly asked in surprise. "Vayle, why would you ask such a thing?"

Vayle just looked back at Kharos, waiting for an answer, but the owl merely shook it off and looked at him sternly as he glanced back at the corpse of the raccoon.

"I'm not going to discuss that with you, Vayle. I don't want to hear of it right now, besides, there are more important things to worry about."

A few moments of silence passed between the two as Vayle was lost in his own thoughts, while Kharos looked around.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" The owl asked as he looked back down at the small chipmunk sitting against the tree trunk.

"Raccoon attacked us where we were camping, it chased me, I tried to kill it." Vayle replied simply, averting his eyes from the owl as he stared at his bloody paws.

"And did you manage to do that?" Kharos asked curiously as he moved the corpse with one of his talons. The fact that the raccoon was merely a corpse, enabled Kharos to touch it.

Vayle suddenly stood up and swiped the black knife from the ground and shoved it into his sweater pocket.

"Doesn't matter does it? Good thing is, reality is intact and that's all that matters. Now let's go back to the others." Vayle said as he walked off in the opposite direction.

Kharos' black eyes watched Vayle with curiosity. He was acting very strangely, and Kharos was worried to find out why.

But he followed the black-furred chipmunk through the dark trees...

* * *

><p>"There you are!" Jeanette said with happiness as she ran forward and hugged Vayle as he emerged from the bushes into the campsite.<p>

Alvin and Theodore, -who were kneeling beside Brittany-, suddenly looked up at the black-furred chipmunk.

Ether quickly hopped up and joined in the hug with Jeanette and Vayle. She made no noise but the tears streaming from her bright eyes was enough. Vayle smiled as he kissed his cousin on the top of her head. "Hey guys."

Simon chuckled as he walked forward. "Nice to see you alive dude, we were really worried." The blue-clad chipmunk said as he lightly hit Vayle on the arm.

Jeanette finally released Vayle and took a step back. "Are you alright? What happened?" She asked with sudden worry as she took note of the dark blood that covered Vayle's body.

"Nah, I'm fine. That animal chased me for a while but I finally managed to take it down." Vayle said with a slight grin.

Ether laughed as she hugged her cousin tighter, not wanting to let go.

"Well come on, you must be exhausted, come sit down." Simon said as he slung an arm around Vayle's shoulder and walked him over to his camp spot.

"Where's Eleanor?"

The group spun around at the sudden voice that just emerged from the darkness.

"Kharos?" Simon said with surprise. "Where did you come from?"

The large owl walked out from the tree line and into the light of the still burning fire in the middle of the campsite.

"She was kidnapped." Alvin spoke as he stared at the owl.

"What? How?" Kharos asked in shock as he looked all around at the group.

Ether was the one to answer. "We don't know, we woke up hearing wolf howls, Eleanor was gone so me and Alvin ran after the noise, by the time we got to it, there was a black chipmunk holding her by the throat, and they disappeared. And there were two dead wolves nearby."

Kharos was speechless as he took in what she said. "I don't believe it…" He spoke quietly. "What exactly did this 'black chipmunk' look like?"

"Black fur all over, even his stripes were black, head, face, everything. He had a long black trench coat on too. And his eyes, were glowing red." Alvin explained to the owl.

Kharos looked down at his talons, seemingly deep in thought. "I do not recognize such a description. There are many demons I know that have such eyes and body appearance, but never have I known one in such a chipmunk form…it's very strange."

Through the quiet, an almost inaudible sob was heard from the green-clad chipmunk sitting with Brittany.

Kharos watched Theodore with sadness, he hated to see him upset like that, and the fact that Eleanor was in grave danger…

He shook his head and took a glance around at the seven chipmunks, they had been through much…and they had now lost one of their dearest friends, and sisters.

The owl's eyes then finally landed upon the small form of the black-clad chipette in Theodore's arms.

"Is Brittany okay?" Kharos asked as he took a step towards the two chipmunks, watching Brittany's unconscious form.

"Yea she's fine...just had a demon practically kill her a few hours ago...where have _you_ been?" Alvin snapped as he took a step towards the owl.

"What's wrong with her?" Kharos asked as he looked down upon Brittany and Theodore with worry.

Jeanette spoke up because Alvin didn't answer. "A few hours ago, we were sleeping in a hotel in Chicago, then, weird stuff started to happen. I was possessed, attacked Theodore, tried to kill Brittany, then a monster appeared right in our room, knocked us out of a seventy story building, we survived it, hijacked a police vehicle, got chased across the city by a blood-thirsty demon, got shot at by the military, then got transported by another monster to God knows where, then a demon attacked us again, snatched Brittany up, and when he dropped her, she was unconscious. After being like that for a little bit, she woke up, paws flaming, and attacked Alvin, Theodore saved him, she went back to sleep…and that sums up most of the night…"

Jeanette was holding her stomach, panting after plopping back down against the rock. That was the longest explanation she had ever given.

Kharos was completely speechless for a few moments.

"Before anything…why were you guys in Illinois?" Kharos asked with curiosity. "That's halfway across the country!"

The group glanced at each other in surprise.

"Come to think of it…Simon, how did you know my name?" Kharos asked again.

"Uh, _you _were the one that told us to go to Chicago. Vittoria gave us the message." Vayle said to the owl as he glanced around at the group with worry.

"Vittoria? I never said any such thing-…" Kharos stopped and shook his head. "It's not important right now. Judging by your descriptions and my knowledge, Brittany was attacked by Karceron himself. Therefore, you are all in extreme danger right now, she's a bomb waiting to detonate." Kharos told them, his voice a bit edgy as his black eyes swept over the small chipette in Theodore's arms.

The group was slightly surprised and speechless, so Kharos continued.

"Theodore, listen to me carefully. Do. Not. Move." Kharos said as he took a few steps away.

The green-clad chipmunk holding Brittany in his arms, suddenly looked scared at Kharos' words.

"B-but why? What's wrong?" He asked shakily.

"Just don't let her wake up. Stay still." Kharos told Theodore as he looked around him, examining the trees around the campsite.

And with that, the owl raised his large spotted wings into the night. The chipmunks watched him curiously.

That's when a strange current of wind suddenly blasted through the campsite, blowing out the fire and shadowing the group in the moonlight.

"What are you doing?" Alvin yelled at Kharos over the loud winds that were whipping around them.

Kharos didn't answer, golden flames and lightning burst out from the darkness and swirled around his body.

"There's only one friend I know who can help Brittany, now hold on tight!" Kharos shouted over the winds and crackling lightning.

The chipmunks could no longer yell over the winds, it was screaming in their ears at a piercing volume.

Red lightning suddenly shot out from the darkness and joined the golden light swirling around Kharos.

The owl slammed his wings down towards the ground and launched himself into the air, he lashed his talons out and grabbed hold of the golden flames in one talon, the red lightning in the other.

One second passed, and he formed the lights into a bright swirling wave of energy bursting around his talons.

"I call upon, the Black Snowy Owl!" Kharos roared, and then shot down towards the ground...and slammed his talons into earth.

The colossal shock wave blasted throughout the entire forest, shaking the trees with a massive force...

And everything was quiet. The chipmunks were sitting there, unharmed, the pale moonlight's hue shown down brightly upon nine figures.

After a few moments of utter silence, Kharos slowly rose his head and looked forward.

"I was halfway across the world in Rio de Janeiro hunting a rather viscous predator, in a time like this, what could possibly be so important...for you to summon me?"

Kharos smiled. "I do apologize my friend, but we have a terrible situation."

The group of chipmunks were staring in shock at the newcomer standing there. It was a large owl, completely sheer black in feathers, it stood at least three feet tall.

But the most intriguing thing about this strange owl's appearance, was his eyes. One was a pure, bright gold. While the other was a shining ruby color.

"Oh simply of course, you have the Ether Veil here, and Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. How nice…" The black owl spoke as his bright eyes swept over the group.

"Do we know you?" Alvin asked as he slowly rose to his feet and stared at the large owl curiously.

"Most unlikely, Simon perhaps-"

"Alright! As I said, we have a situation, Eleanor has been kidnapped by an unknown enemy, and Brittany has been attacked by Karceron." Kharos explained to the black owl.

The owl merely looked over at Brittany, his golden and ruby eyes examining her carefully.

He didn't speak, so Kharos continued. "You are the only one I know who could handle such a thing."

The owl nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on Brittany. "You are correct, Karceron's methods of torture and death are rather strange and hard to deal with..." He told Kharos.

"Can you help her?" Alvin asked the owl as he glanced back at the sleeping chipette.

"I happen to be one of the most powerful creatures in the nine known dimensions of this reality, and many, many more alternate realities." The owl replied simply.

The group stared at him in surprise. "So we shall see, bring her forward." He added as he looked down at Brittany's still form.

Alvin and Theodore grabbed onto Brittany's arms and legs and gently carried her over to the owl

He watched her for a few moments before slowly lowering his wing down and letting the tip of the last black feather touch Brittany's nose.

"Awaken." He spoke into the air as he watched her carefully.

Brittany's eyes snapped wide open, and they were glowing a bright orange.

"Get back now!" The owl suddenly yelled as he pushed his wings through the air and landed a couple feet away from Brittany.

The group was frozen for a moment before they saw Brittany slowly rise onto her feet, eyes glowing bright.

"Uh-oh." Alvin said before he grabbed onto Theodore's paw and pulled him and the others a few feet away from her.

Brittany's paws ignited into searing orange flames, breaking the darkness the campsite was previously basked in.

The owl stared back into her glowing orange eyes, he didn't move an inch.

The chipette raised her flaming paws, aiming directly at the owl.

Blistering fountains of pure flame destroyed the darkness of the area, they soared through the air and slammed into the black owl.

His entire body was bathed in the searing flames. "Brittany, NO!" Alvin yelled as he watched the owl get torched.

Brittany spun around, her glowing eyes suddenly locked onto Alvin's, and she turned, aiming her paws.

"Impressive..."

Brittany spun back around just in time to see a giant black wing slam into her, sending her small body flying through the air and crashing into the ground, four feet away.

The flames finally dissipated into the night, revealing the completely unharmed black owl.

"Alvin, don't be a fool, she is not herself at all." The owl told Alvin while keeping his golden and ruby eyes locked on Brittany, who was rising to her feet, paws still flaring.

Brittany was staring back at the owl, looking more angry, she raised one of her flaming paws again.

But before she could fire, the black owl flashed his wing outward, and a tree vine shot out and snapped onto Brittany's searing wrist.

The possessed chipette snarled in anger as she flared the flames brighter and tried to yank her arm away.

The black owl stepped forward as he flashed his wings again, more vines shot out from the darkness and snapped onto Brittany's other wrist, wrapping around tightly.

Before she could do anything, the vines lifted her into the air and pulled back, slamming her back into a tree, dropping her to the ground.

Brittany screamed out in anger as she tried to rip away from the vines binding her. The vines started to smoke from her searing wrists.

The struggling chipette suddenly kicked her legs out at the owl, sending a massive wave of flame through the air, but the owl sliced his wings out and blew the wave of fire away.

He took another step towards Brittany as another set of dark green vines shot out and wrapped onto her kicking ankles, pinning them to the ground and stopping the chipette from moving her limbs.

"Stop it! You're hurting her!" Alvin shouted at the owl as he saw Brittany bound tightly against the tree, completely helpless. But her eyes still flared a bright orange while she screamed in anger.

The owl ignored Alvin as he walked forward. "Calm yourself Alvin, I'm saving her." He said as he examined the struggling chipette, she was writhing around crazily, snapping her wrists back and forth. The vines were slowly catching fire and smoking from her flaming limbs., the owl had to move quick.

"Kharos, she shares my blood. Am I correct?" The owl asked Kharos suddenly.

"Yes of course, why?" Kharos asked strangely as he watched his friend.

"Good." He replied as he raised one of his black-clawed talons into the air, and ignited it into a bright orange flame.

Without sparing another moment, he reached his flaming talon out, and lowered it down onto Brittany's head.

"Amaarah…"

The chipette screamed, in anger, pain, or confusion, it was unknown. But the horrible noise sent an emotional shock through Alvin's heart.

Finally, after a few seconds, Brittany's screams died down and she stopped kicking and writhing around.

All was still and quiet, the chipette was laying there, the only movement was the gentle rising and falling of her pink-clad chest as she breathed into the night air.

The owl raised his talon off Brittany's head and sliced his wings back. The smoking vines uncurled themselves from Brittany's unmoving limbs and slithered away into the darkness.

He examining her body carefully, where the vines had bound her wrists and ankles, even though they were searing because of the flames, there was no damage. And where he had placed his flaming talon on her head, there was no harm whatsoever.

"Amazing, her fur has not corroded in the slightest, you did well, Kharos." The owl spoke as he glanced at the group huddled together a few feet away.

"Yes, the _Rakion blood _protects her well." Kharos said with a smile as he walked forward and looked down at Brittany.

"Is she okay?" Alvin asked worriedly as he hopped over to Brittany and knelt down beside her still form.

"I managed to stabilize her for now. Go ahead and wake her up." The black owl told Alvin with a slight grin.

Alvin nodded as he reached a paw out slowly and touched Brittany's button-like nose.

She twitched slightly but did not wake. Alvin smiled as he reached out and gently shook her shoulder.

"Come on Britt, you're safe now." He spoke quietly to her as he slid an arm under her back and raised her slightly.

The tired chipette slowly peeked her furry eyelids open. Her ice-blue jewels met with Alvin's hazel-yellow eyes.

"Hey..." Brittany barely whispered loud enough for Alvin to catch it.

Alvin let a single tear fall from his eye as he pulled Brittany into a loving hug.

She was back to normal.

Brittany was utterly confused as to what was going on, but she was too exhausted at the moment to care. She just curled her fingers as she slightly hugged Alvin back.

"How are you?" Alvin asked quietly as he pulled back and looked into her bright eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

Brittany's response was just barely above a faint whisper, "Tired…"

"Oh yes, my apologies, the procedure can usually be very exhausting." The black owl spoke up. "Here, let me take care of that…"

He reached his black wing up to the sky and twirled it around a couple times. A sudden bluish light formed from the darkness and swirled around the wing tip.

"Now, I've never tried this on a chipmunk, so because of your small body, you might feel a little elated, and…giddy." The owl smiled as he walked forward, stretching his glowing wing tip to Brittany and gently pressing it on her chest.

The chipette's eyes suddenly widened as the powerful energy was poured into her. She jumped out of Alvin's arms and hopped through the air, laughing.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Brittany said as she ran a lap around the black owl before jumping back at Alvin and knocking him down, giggling to herself. "What was that?"

The owl smiled as he gestured a wing up at the bright moon. "Lunar Energy, I harnessed some of it." He explained with a slight laugh as he watched Brittany wrestle with Alvin, "A difficult skill to master, but I can use it when the time is right."

"Well it worked alright, I feel great!" Brittany said happily as she and Alvin stood up.

Jeanette ran forward and hugged her sister, surprising her. "Hey Jen, it's good to see you." Brittany said with a smile as she hugged her sister back.

"I missed you Brit," she said back as her violet eyes showed the slightest sign of moisture.

"Anyway," the black owl spoke as the two sisters pulled away. "Allow me to introduce myself to the group."

He turned and nodded to the other four chipmunks standing there, they took a couple steps forward.

"My name is Soul, more commonly known as The Black Snowy Owl." He explained, golden-ruby eyes sweeping over the chipmunks.

"I am a monarch of the Sanctum Order of Dreamhaven, a legendary assassin of the Dark Rakk, and the master traveler of dimensions and alternate realities alike."

The group was doing their best to follow what the strange owl meant. Simon managed to catch interest in the last part.

"That's the second time you've mentioned dimensions and realities, what do you mean by that?" The blue-clad chipmunk asked curiously.

Soul gave Simon an amused look before answering, "Ah, yes, allow me to explain. A reality is a universe. What we are living in right now is a single reality, there are many different realities, and in most, there are at least nine dimensions. A dimension is an alternated section of that reality, for example, Dreamhaven is the main dimension of this reality, it holds almost all that matters or exists, dreams as well. It is a dimension itself, but it is also a sort-of bridge to the other dimensions of this reality."

The owl paused to glance at the group to make sure they were paying attention. They looked like they heard him, for the most part.

"I happen to be one of the only beings in all existence that has the ability to travel between realities, traveling dimensions is one thing, but another reality, now that's something different…" Soul stopped and his eyes went distant for a moment.

"Wait, so you're saying you've been to other alternate realities? Like you've seen other versions of, say…this planet?" Simon asked curiously, gesturing a paw around him.

"That is correct." The owl replied simply.

Simon's eyes went wide. "Wow! So you mean you have seen different versions of everything!" Brittany exclaimed in surprise. "What about us? Have you seen an alternate version of us? Am I still as pretty?" The black-clad chipette babbled on in wonder as she imagined it.

"Am I still as awesome?" Her counterpart added in.

Kharos chuckled as he took a small step forward, "That's not exactly how it works."

"Of course you're curious, but I can't simply tell you about your alternate version in another reality, that would be breaking the fabrics of nature." Soul explained carefully.

"Besides, there are tons of realities that I have visited, and what makes you think I've seen any of your alternate versions before anyway?" He asked with an amused smile.

"Well…have you?" Ether asked with a laugh.

The black owl sighed as he shook his head with a slight chuckle. "I don't think that's exactly relevant to our situation right now."

"Oh right, Eleanor's missing, I remember that…" Brittany said as she looked strangely at the ground at she put a paw to her temple, feeling a sudden ache in it.

"We shall deal with that soon enough," Soul replied, looking at her with a face of concern. "But right now, I am more worried about you, Brittany."

"Me?" She asked bluntly, "What for?"

"Well, by now the memories of the past few hours should be coming back to you, correct?"

Brittany nodded as she stared off into the distance again, the past events during her possession slowly edging into her brain.

"Well I managed to calm the energy that was controlling you, but I am very unsure what it is, whatever it may be, it's powerful, demonic, and wants to kill…" Soul told Brittany seriously.

"So…" Brittany said, her eyes still distant.

"So, Karceron _penetrated _you; that could mean _anything._"

Brittany looked up suddenly, covering her body in utter embarrassment as her cheeks flushed bright crimson.

"He did WHAT?"

Soul had a confused look on his face for a moment before the almost hilarious realization hit him.

He sighed as he shook his head. "Sometimes I really do hate this planet and its terms; I meant that he injected you with an alien energy, and a very powerful one; and I need to figure out what it is, and maybe I can get rid of it."

Brittany looked down, cheeks burning red from her question. "Oh, alright then… What do you need to do?"

"Well, basically I need to _scan_ you," he said simply, "Like, like, um, oh a computer virus scan!" Soul explained with a smile.

"Um…does it hurt?" Brittany asked tentatively, unsure of the word _scan._

"Ah, that's a good question. Usually it would probably sting a bit, but because of your gift of _Rakion blood, _I can use a simpler, more harmless method." The owl assured her with a smile, something he seemed to do a lot.

"A-alright then." She answered quietly, looking down at her soft foot paws. "So what do I do?"

Soul nodded. "Humph, quite. Alvin, Kharos, you both might want to take a few steps back…"

Alvin and Kharos nodded and walked back to the other six chipmunks. Although he said harmless, Brittany was still worried. She glanced around nervously, all eyes were on her.

"Don't worry little one, if there's anyone you can trust, it's me." Soul said with a nod as his black feathers suddenly ignited into flames.

Brittany's eyes went wide from the sudden flash of light and flames.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed in surprise.

"Do not worry. Harmless, remember?" Soul said quickly as he reached a talon forward, letting one of the flaming claws touch Brittany's furry cheek.

But the chipette felt no pain, the burning talon did nothing to her fur.

"What exactly _is_ this _Rakion blood_?" Brittany asked curiously as Soul retracted his talon back.

"Erm, it is the energy and spirit of Fire flowing through your veins." He explained, adjusting his weight.

"It means you have the power to manifest, manipulate, and control the element with just your mind waves. Not only that, but since the power is fused into your cells, every fiber, every skin, every fur strand, is completely immune to the damage effects of heat. You are indestructible to fire and burning..." Soul finished explaining, grinning at Brittany's expression of awe.

"That…is _so_ cool!" Brittany exclaimed happily.

"I thought so…" He hooted with a chuckle as he walked forward. "Now, let's begin. This won't hurt a bit, but whatever you do, don't move."

Brittany nodded confidently, bracing herself for whatever the owl was going to do; although she had a good feeling of what it was.

Soul raised his flaming wings above Brittany, closing his colored eyes and lowering his head.

_"Sonarohs, spectrum…reveal…" _

His golden-ruby eyes flashed open as a sudden wave of flame burst out from his wings and shot down toward the ground, immediately basking him and Brittany in flames.

Kharos and the seven other chipmunks quickly shielded their eyes from the sudden bright light.

They backed up a few steps as they felt the intense heat of the flames as the wind carried the heat waves toward them.

A few moments of loud winds and crackling flames later, it was all over; everything was quiet again.

Soul lowered his burning wings, cutting off the wave of fire and letting the flames dissipate.

From the last of the embers bloomed Brittany, and though she was unharmed, she stood in front of them… naked.

She was dazed from the heat that surrounded her; and when she inspected her body, she squeaked in surprise as she quickly realized she was completely lacking clothes.

"Ugh, you know that jacket wasn't very cheap!" Brittany said with annoyance.

"Oh dear!" Soul gasped, realizing his error, "Brittany, I'm so sorry, I complete forgot about your clothes!"

A small laugh was heard from the group standing a few feet away. Brittany gave them a glare.

"Erm, how should I say, I'm sorry?" Soul said embarrassingly.

"Whatever, it's alright." Brittany snapped, folding her bare arms. "What did you find out with the stupid scan thing?"

"Oh, right. One moment." He said as he raised one of his black wings and pressed the tip to his temple, closing his eyes in concentration.

"Hmm…let's see… Infection, parasite, demon, entity, pregnancy…" Soul spoke to himself as he concentrated on what he had scanned from Brittany.

"WHAT?" Brittany shouted at that last word.

Soul merely waved a wing to silence her. She stared at him in surprise at what he was saying, eyes wide.

After a few more moments of blabbing, Soul lowered his wing and looked up.

"I'm not sure." He said. "But I think it is a powerful _Enkai."_

"What the heck is that?" The naked chipette said with shock.

"An _Enkai _is usually a demon of sorts, but also could be many other things at the same time. It's not exactly clear. Whatever it is, its energy is very dormant, and blocked." Soul said, sounding very frustrated.

"Well how can you get it out of me?" Brittany asked worriedly.

"There's only one way I think that would work for such a thing…" The owl said. "A _Calibri Exorcism."_

"NO! You shall not do such a thing!" Kharos suddenly roared as he took a few steps forward.

"Oh shut up Kharos, you know I would never hurt Brittany that way." Soul snapped back.

"Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's a _Calibri Exorcism?_" Brittany asked, voice shaking slightly.

Soul glanced at her solemnly before answering. "It's a special procedure used to rid certain energy from one's body. I won't go into detail but all you should know is that it includes removing the heart from the bearer's chest…something I don't think you would enjoy."

Brittany gulped as her eyes went wide again. "Oh no, I wouldn't want that…"

Soul nodded. "Yes of course…there's nothing we can do then, at least for now."

"What? That's it? We just-"

Brittany was interrupted as a giant black figure shot out of nowhere and slammed into Kharos.

The owl soared through the air before slamming into a tree, cracking the bark.

Everybody gasped in shock as they watched the owl drop to the base of the tree, their heads then looked back at the attacker, standing there, towering above them all.

It was an enormous wolf-like creature. It actually looked like a wolf, but instead of the normal fur of a such a feral animal, this one was covered completely in leathery black skin, down to its black claws and the giant black dragon-like wings connected to the creature's back.

But by far the most intriguing thing about this frightening wolf-dragon-like creature, was its eyes. Both eyes were glowing brightly, but instead of the normal colored pupils, they were flaring with bright orange flames inside the irises.

The large creature wasn't even acknowledging the chipmunks or the black owl standing there, its fiery eyes were fixed on the Spotted Owl rising to his feet ahead.

"What do you want, Vengeance?" Kharos asked, his voice full of annoyance.

"WHERE IS SHE?" The menacing wolf snarled in anger.

The owl chuckled slightly. "Like you actually care…"

Kharos was slammed back into the tree as the wolf lunged forward, flashing its large wing out and pinning Kharos to the cracked bark.

The Spotted Owl laughed before slashing his talons out and slamming them into the wolf's leathery chest, pushing him back .

The feral beast snarled in anger as he dug his black claws into the ground, stopping his movement after sliding a few feet. He looked forward with rage at the owl, smoke leaking from the corners of his snarling mouth.

"You will tell me if you don't want me picking the remains of your feathers out of my teeth…" The black wolf growled, reptile-like tail flicking in a defensive posture.

Kharos grinned and spread his spotted wings wide. "Come get me."

The wolf roared as he pushed off the ground with extreme force and lunged directly at the small owl-

"I'll tell you children what's going to happen."

The wolf yelped in surprise as he felt vice-like talons clamp onto the base of his tail.

Soul pushed his powerful giant wings downward, lifting him and the wolf into the air. Not letting a moment pass, he swung around and let go of the wolf's tail, sending the large animal soaring through the air and slamming into the base of a tree.

The wood plant cracked in half and slowly toppled over and fell into the darkness of the forest.

Soul dropped and slammed his talons firmly into the ground, glaring at the black leathery wolf rising to his feet.

"Kyro, Kharos, we have a situation right now and I'm not in the mood to deal with your petty rivalry, if either one of you try to attack each other…I swear I will tear you in half. It will take me all but one claw."

Soul's voice had lost all of its kind and gentle tone, but it was now one of complete authority and power.

Kharos's smile immediately disappeared while the wolf stopped growling and bowed his head, keeping his flaming eyes still fixed on the Spotted Owl across the campsite, Soul standing in the middle.

The black owl's golden and ruby eyes glanced at the two animals staring at each other, satisfied that they would stay still, he spoke to the group of chipmunks.

"So who is the one that saw this 'unknown enemy' take poor Eleanor?" Soul asked, his voice returning to its previous nicer tone.

Alvin stepped forward. "Me and Ether saw him, it was a chipmunk-"

But the owl shushed Alvin with a raised wing. "Don't worry, I can handle that part." Soul said as he stepped forward, his wing raised. Although Alvin was confused, he didn't ask what the owl was doing.

Soul let the tip of his black wing touch Alvin's forehead, a small silver light appeared where the contact was made.

Alvin noticed a sudden feeling of gentle warmth at Soul's touch, and as he did, he also felt the memories of the past few hours slowly melt through his mind, they were all replayed rather quickly. It was like a cassette tape in his brain.

The hotel events, the car chase, the beach attack, the demon attacking them in the forest, Brittany attacking him, and the black chipmunk holding Eleanor by the throat, and winking at him as they disappeared into black flames.

"Well then…" Soul said slowly as he retracted his wing and examined the images he had seen, he turned and looked up at the night sky.

Alvin shook his head clear of the memories gently swirling around in his mind. "What is it?"

"That specific chipmunk form is not familiar, but I would recognize the core of those eyes anywhere." Soul said as he turned around and faced the group.

"He's an old enemy of mine actually, escaped me more than once in the War of the Dark…Phelan."

"Oh no…not _him._" Kharos said worriedly as he took a step forward, watching Soul carefully.

"I'm afraid so my friend, he has returned and taken Eleanor captive, Alvin's eyes do not deceive."

"Well do ya want to tell us who the heck took my sister? Who's Phelan?" Brittany snapped, slightly annoyed at how the owls just stood there with worried looks on their round feathery faces.

Kharos was about to speak, but was interrupted by the deep, growl-like voice of the wolf as he stepped forward.

"Phelan, not a demon. No, long ago, he was once a protector of the Sanctum Prison, but we all saw something strange in him. He was different, altered as it seemed…" Kyro paused, looking at the ground, he sighed before continuing.

"And one day, he broke, he purposely set free almost a hundred of the darkest demons ever to roam this reality, and he escaped with them. To this day we are unsure why he did it, but we have deemed him criminally insane and an extreme threat, he is one of the few that have massive powers such as shape shifting and dimension traveling as well."

Soul nodded, apparently already knowing all of this.

"The reason for me contacting you is actually because Rakk himself had an encounter with Phelan a night ago. In Eleanor's dream…" Kyro explained to the black owl in front of him.

"What? Exactly what happened?" Soul demanded suddenly.

"Phelan targeted Eleanor and entered her dream, and tried to attack her, and he somehow forced her into a Dual-World where he could actually hurt her, he tampered with the Sanctum itself. Rakk saved her in time but he is an extreme threat if he can do such things."

"Well why are you just telling them now?" Soul asked incredulously, pointing a wing at the seven chipmunks.

"I have been hunting Phelan down all this time, along with Soron." Kyro said simply.

"Is that so? You had Soron with you? If it's Phelan we are worrying about, you know that's not a good idea." Soul explained sternly.

"Indeed, but Soron would never listen to me, he's far too stubborn, and he also has a grudge that he's not willing to let go of." Kyro said with a slight laugh. Soul rolled his eyes.

"Also, when I realized Kharos was here, I figured I would ask where the hell Kobalt is?" Kyro said, suddenly remembering his reason for attacking the owl.

Kharos looked up again, a grin on his face. "She's perfectly fine, I already completed the ritual. She's physical in this dimension and is on her way to her target."

Kyro nodded. "That's good news, Kobalt is on the mission? Hmm, Eleanor might have a chance after all."

"Yes, but even so, we can spare no time trying to get her back. I don't wish to imagine what Phelan could be doing to her" Soul explained.

"Hold on a second!"

Everybody turned and stared at Alvin.

"Before anything else, what the heck is going on?" The red-clad chipmunk shouted, anger and frustration in his voice, his tail flicked irritably.

"I mean really? What exactly are we doing? Why did this Phelan guy take Eleanor? Why did that demon mess Brittany up? What are they doing to us? What are we supposed to do?"

Alvin was sounding frantic and crazed while at the same time, he was pissed off.

The group watched Alvin like he was going insane, Kharos and Soul were silent, watching Alvin with sorrow in their eyes.

Kyro however, walked forward, chuckling slightly. "Alvin, are you honestly asking these questions? Do you seriously not know what's going on? Let me guess, these two here have been vague and confusing about everything, am I right?" Kyro asked, gesturing one of his large leathery wings at the two owls standing there. Kharos glared at the wolf.

"Yea, you could say that." Alvin snapped, folding his arms. Brittany watched him nervously.

Kyro rolled his flaming eyes, although it looked rather strange as he did so. "Alright Alvin, listen closely because I don't exactly have a lot of time." The wolf said, pacing around.

"You want to know what's going on? Hell. That's what. You guys are being hunted down like vermin. Ether and Vayle, you're the key to existence. Look around! I've been watching, you're all lucky to be alive right now, Brittany, you should be long gone, now Eleanor's taken and could be dead already, or worse. Phelan is one of the most ruthless and demonically insane creatures ever to exist, who knows what he could be doing?" Kyro paused to look back at the chipmunks, they were watching him, wordlessly.

"The only reason you are all alive right now in the first place is because you are lucky enough to have been targeted by one of the most powerful and ruthless demons ever: Karceron. He just so happens to specialize in making his victims suffer to the fullest before he actually goes in to kill them. He wants to torture you all, in every way you can think of. He wants to make your deaths slow, he will enjoy seeing you run and fight him. He wants to make the destruction of the Ether Veil glorious in his eyes. If he actually wanted you all to just plain die, well there wouldn't be seven of you standing here." Kyro finished.

"Why are you telling this to all of us now?" Simon spoke up.

"Because it's what's going on. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything." Kyro replied simply.

"Who exactly are you anyway?" Alvin snapped.

"Someone who's saved your life countless times before you were even a cell in your father's body." Kyro snapped back. "Us creatures of Dreamhaven have been protecting you all for many years, you were proclaimed to be born. And many of us have given up our lives to fight for your generation, your parents, theirs, and now…it's your job to protect yourselves, and the Ether Veil itself." The wolf explained as he paced around slowly

"Why us? Why do we have to do this?" Avin argued back.

"Because Fate says so!" Kyro yelled, taking a step towards Alvin.

"Wake up already Alvin! This isn't a dream! This is real, there's no absolute reason for why you're chosen, there's nothing that can be done! This isn't the time to worry and question things, this is the time to follow your duty and survive. Get your head out of the clouds because you can't mess up! None of you!" Kyro shouted, addressing the other six chipmunks too.

"Forget wanting all this to go away, forget crying and whining about it like little babies! You're grown up now and you have the biggest responsibility a living being can have! Now live up to that and accept it, because you make one mistake, you forget you job for even a moment…and it may be your last."

The group of chipmunks were standing there, dumbstruck at Kyro's words, but they realized that they were all perfectly true.

Soul suddenly spoke up to break the silence. "It's time we locate Eleanor, I will attempt it now." The black owl spun around and traced a flaming black wing through the night sky.

A trail of flames swirling around the wing tip and started forming a bright shape in the air. It took a few moments, but the waving flames had connected together in small shapes to form a fiery replica of the planet Earth.

Almost all the details were seen in the flames, the continents, the oceans, even most of the islands were visible, it was like a view from space, but the planet was made from fire.

Soul waved his wing, the burning globe obeyed and spun around, he stopped it at the right spot and pointed a bright beam of light on a certain area.

Simon walked forward and focused on the tiny beam. "That's the wilderness of Southern Canada…what's there?" The blue-clad chipmunk asked curiously.

"Us, we are standing on this exact spot." Soul said with an amused smile, pointing at the bright beam of flame.

"And?" Simon asked.

"I'm trying to locate Phelan's energy, I've acquired it before, long ago. But right now, it seems to be blocked somehow. I can't pinpoint it." Soul said frustratingly, his wing tip pressed to his right temple.

"What does that mean?" Brittany spoke up, her voice full of worry.

"Oh don't worry, he's still in this dimension, but there is some type of blurring shield that I can't see past. The most I can tell is that he has taken Eleanor a few miles from this spot. They might be hiding in some abandoned building, or an underground area, or a cave. I'm not sure, he has a powerful shield of energy blocking his mind. Probably Karceron's work." Soul explained carefully, finally giving up on trying to pinpoint Phelan's energy.

"So what do we do?" Alvin asked the black owl.

"Go find her, you cannot let her be in Phelan's arms. Her fate could be anything." Soul said sadly.

The group of chipmunks glanced at each other nervously before all stepping forward together.

"The direction is east, if you can follow the stars, you might have a better chance." Soul said slowly, glancing up at the bright night sky.

"Oh! I'm really good with stars!" Jeanette said excitedly.

"Perfect, you see that cluster of seven stars right there!" Soul asked, pointing his black wing up, Jeanette nodded. "Never stray away from those stars, follow that direction. But for tonight, you must have rest. You've had an extremely tough journey and if you are to have any hope of continuing and rescuing Eleanor, you must be rested."

"What? You expect us to sleep peacefully while my little sister is being held captive by some crazy, evil chipmunk demon?" Brittany shouted at the owl like he was insane.

"Yes." Soul replied calmly, Brittany flinched. "Your searches would be useless at this hour of the night, it would be far too difficult, and it's too dangerous." Soul explained carefully. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but until daytime, there's nothing you can do for your sister but pray that Phelan will have mercy on her."

"He's right guys, we can't do anything while it's still dark." Simon said, turning around and addressing the group.

Brittany sighed and angrily folded her bare arms. "Fine."

Soul was about to bid them farewell, but something caught his golden eye. He raised his black wing towards Vayle. The black knife protruding out of his gray sweater pocket, sudden jolted out and flew to Soul's outstretched wing, stopping in midair and floating their silently.

"Vayle…where did you get this?" Soul asked strangely as he stared at the dark blade with his golden-ruby eyes glinting in the moonlight.

The black-furred chipmunk quickly realized what happened. "Hey! Give that back!" Vayle demanded as he stomped towards the owl.

Soul slowly peeled his eyes away from the blade above his wing, and looked down at Vayle with an icy glare, stopping the chipmunk in his tracks. "Where…did you get this knife?"

Vayle gulped down, not answering, looking down at his paws nervously.

"Vayle." Soul spoke quietly, taking a step towards the tiny chipmunk, "Did _she _give this to you?"

The chipmunk still didn't speak. "Answer me. Did you see _her?_" Soul asked as he lowered his wing down in front of Vayle, the black blade hovering above the tip.

Vayle looked up slowly, avoiding eye contact with Soul. "Yes, I did." And he reached up and swiped the black knife away from the air.

Without a word, Soul reached out and touched Vayle's forehead with his wing tip, allowing the past few memories to surge into his mind. The chipmunk's eyes widened as they all flashed through his brain.

"Hey! I didn't say you could do that!" Vayle snapped as Soul retracted his wing.

"Sorry." The black owl replied simply, touching his wing tip to his temple, examining Vayle's memories.

His golden-ruby eyes went wide as he watched them. "No…it can't be!"

"Yea…that's the same thing I thought." Vayle said with a sarcastic laugh.

Soul looked back to Vayle, then the other chipmunks. "We must spare no more time, you should all set off and find a place to camp for the night, somewhere safer than the middle of the forest, there are still many wild animals that will attack you, many more vicious than a small raccoon."

Simon nodded in understanding. "Yea, you're right. We'll try to find a clearing to camp in."

Kharos walked forward, "So this is farewell for now my friends. Be warned, your journey from here will not be easy, there will be nothing that goes your way, the unexpected will happen, the expected will not. This evil has no bounds and will not stop at anything to reach its goal, you must stay strong together." The Spotted Owl told to the group, letting a small smile edge onto his feathery face.

The group nodded as they turned around and took a few steps away. "Bye!" Brittany said, waving.

"Indeed, be careful. And we will see you again." Soul said, his bright eyes watching the group slowly walk away into the darkness.

They glanced at Kyro one last time, the black wolf gave a nod, before his flaming eyes disappeared into the night, and the chipmunks faded from sight as they walked deeper into the forest once more.

* * *

><p>It seemed like the chipmunks had been mindlessly wandering through the nighttime forest for hours. But in reality it was only about thirty minutes.<p>

Brittany, being always the first to complain, finally spoke up.

"Are we there yet?" Came the signature bored question when traveling.

"We've passed up several clearings already, but we're looking for one big enough to where we can be in the middle of it and be able to see any incoming attacks." Jeanette explained happily, the dull mood of the group seemingly not affecting her much.

"Right…well we need to hurry up because I'm freezing!" Brittany complained, clutching her bare arms to her furry chest, shivering.

"Well why didn't you say so earlier Britt?" Alvin spoke up, walking beside the ocher-furred chipette.

"Here, you can have my sweater," he said as he reached up and quickly pulled his signature red sweater off his body.

Now both of the chipmunks were walking side-by-side…naked.

"Here ya go." Alvin said kindly, handing the bright red bundle over to Brittany.

The naked chipette was surprised for a moment as she slowly took the sweater from Alvin. "Uh…thanks Alvin, that-that's really thoughtful of you." Brittany said with a nervous smile, she then slowly pulled the warm jacket over her head and sighed in contentment as her fur warmed to the soft fabric, she was cozy.

Alvin chuckled slightly as he watched her sigh happily, snuggling into the sweater that was too big for her. It easily reached down just above her knees.

Brittany noticed him staring and shyly glanced back at him. "What?" She asked innocently, "I was cold…"

Alvin laughed again. "Come here you…" Alvin said with a smile as he reached his bare arms out and hugged Brittany close to him.

He was half expecting her to shove him away, shocked and disgusted…but she did no such thing.

In fact, she surprised Alvin by snuggling closer to his furry body, sharing her warmth with him, causing Alvin to sigh contently as well.

Theodore smiled happily at the couple holding onto each other beside him, but it only reminded him of how he would always do those things with Eleanor, snuggling was one of their favorite things to do. And now she was gone, taken, by an insane, evil chipmunk.

Simon and Jeanette were holding hands, while Vayle was tightly holding on his cousin, who was panting now. The group had reached a small hill in the forest and were now slowly climbing up it.

"You think there's something at the top of this?" Vayle asked Simon curiously.

The blue-clad chipmunk merely shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe."

After a few more moments of tough climbing, the group finally reached the top of the incline, and saw the most beautiful and inviting sight they had seen in all night.

"A farm!" Brittany exclaimed excitedly.

Her words rang true, the group was staring across a wide clearing of grass, in the middle of it, was a medium-sized two-story house, next to it, a farm building.

The chipmunks just stood there, staring in awe for a moment. "Come on let's go!" Ether said excitedly as she pulled away from Vayle and took off down the hill towards the field.

"Wait up Ether!" The other six quickly followed suit after the tiny black blur sprinting down the hill. She finally reached the grass line and continued running on all fours through the grasses towards the very inviting farm house.

It took the group all but thirty seconds to cover the two-hundred foot distance to the house.

"Be careful Ether!" Simon warned, "We don't know what's in there." He told her, suddenly uneasy as they climbed the creaky wooden steps onto the porch of the house, their tiny four-toed feet pitter-pattering against the quiet night.

"There can't be anybody here, this place looks old and abandoned." Vayle said, walking up to the wooden front door, examining the copper handle.

"More reason to be careful, we all know by now there are much more dangerous things than humans." Simon told them, a slight laugh in his uneasy voice.

"I don't care what's in there, it means warmth and shelter so I'm going in!" Brittany spoke up, walking up to the front door as well.

The other chipmunks just stood there, watching the silent house with worry, it wasn't big, but it was big _enough_ to hold something dangerous. So they didn't move.

"Well come on guys! We can't just stand here all night!" Brittany snapped. She then hopped up onto the copper handle of the wooden door, and shifted her weight to turn it.

They heard a slight cracking noise as the metal slid against the wood and unlocked the holder, Brittany hopped off, letting the door slowly slide open, revealing the darkness inside…the perfect scenario for a horror movie moment.

All was silent in the night as the seven chipmunks stood there unmoving, looking into the darkness, but their eyes slowly adjusted and they saw a window let in enough moonlight for them to see inside.

Brittany nervously glanced back at the group before turning and slowly stepping onto the mantle of the house, entering the doorway.

She waved a paw, motioning for them to follow her. Alvin glanced at Simon quickly before walking forward and stepping into the dark house behind the red-clad form of Brittany.

"It's quiet." Theodore said shakily.

Brittany rolled her eyes, "Well duh, there's nothing here." She said with a slight laugh as the group walked forward through the dark house, stopping in the middle of what seemed to be the trashed living room.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that…"

The chipmunks yelled out in shock as they jumped back a few inches, frightened by the sudden hissing voice that rang through the darkness.

"Who's there?" Alvin asked, his eyes scanning the darkness, one paw gripping Brittany's, the other held out in a defensive posture, ready to attack.

They were all standing in the middle of the trashed room, covered in random objects like knives, nails, glass, and broken pieces all over the wooden floor. They looked forward through the dim light, the moonlight managed to leak through a window and shine down in a large square a couple feet away. The chipmunks stared as they saw a small creature slowly step into the light.

Because of the claws, they automatically assumed some type of demon, but as the small animal stepped further into the moonlight, they discovered it was merely a regular-sized rat, grayish fur dirty and not glistening in the slightest even though the moonlight blared on it.

"I should be asking you fellows that very question." The rat replied icily. The chipmunks glanced at each other nervously.

"Because you see, whatever your intentions may be, strangers, this happens to be my home, along with my family." The rat explained, his bright yellow eyes glanced to the sides of him as more rats stepped into the moonlight, flanking him.

Simon stepped forward to speak. "Look, we're not trying to invade or anything, we're just a group of travelers looking for a warm place to rest for the night."

The grayish rat glared at Simon with its piercing yellow eyes. "I'm not so sure I like that."

"Please, we mean no harm, we promise not to bother you, if we could just go upstairs and use a room, we would be thankful." The blue-clad chipmunk quickly explained, sweating slightly as he realized this was quickly becoming a hostile situation.

"Well I've never been one to enjoy sharing, so how about you all run along back to where you came from, unless you want this to get messy." The rat hissed, slightly baring its sharp yellow teeth, almost matching his eye color.

Simon's eyes widened, realizing it was not going well. "What? No, we will not disturb-"

But Simon was cut off as Ether stomped forward, "You selfish little scum! You've got an entire abandoned house here and you're not willing to share one room with your own kind? Do you even _want_ to know who we are?" The black-furred chipette ranted with anger, not taking her bright violet-blue eyes off the rat's.

"Please Ether, don't worry about it." Jeanette said quickly as she walked forward and took the chipette's arm, trying to pull her back.

Even though the chipmunks were powerful, they were well aware that at least twelve angry rats with sharp teeth and claws were surrounding them, a fight would not go well for them.

"Listen to your friend, I don't think you want your night to end badly." The rat snickered darkly, earning a few hissing laughs from the rats beside him.

"Come on, let's go." Simon told them as he took Jeanette's paw and led her and Ether a few feet away, Theodore and Vayle followed.

Alvin hated it, he wanted to be stubborn and argue, but even _he_ was able to realize they wouldn't come out of a fight without serious injury. He gentle gripped Brittany's paw, and tried to lead her away.

"This is unbelievable." Brittany mumbled, angry that they were being threatened by a bunch of vermin.

The rat looked forward and stared at Brittany for a moment, his teeth showed as he gave a slight grin. "On second thought, you my dear, look rather inviting… you can stay." The rat spoke to Brittany.

"What? I'm not staying with _you_!" Brittany snapped back.

The rat chuckled darkly, "I didn't say you had a choice…"

Two more rats shot out of the darkness and grabbed onto Brittany, swiftly tearing her away from Alvin before either of the chipmunks could react, they brought her to the ground behind him.

Alvin gasped and spun around, "Brittany NO!" He shouted as he took a step towards the two rats holding her down.

But he stopped in his tracks as he noticed in horror, one of the rats had its sharp teeth clamped on the base of Brittany tail, the other one had Brittany's small neck between its jaws.

The red-clad chipette was whimpering in terror, knowing she was a breath away from being killed.

"I do apologize, but it's been so long since my family had a good dinner, and your friend here looks simply delectable…" The grayish rat spoke from behind.

Alvin spun around again. "Let her go!" He shouted with anger.

"Why do they always go for me?" Brittany whimpered.

"You may leave now." The rat told Alvin with another laugh.

But Alvin didn't move, he clenched his fists in anger as he stared back at the rat. "You're going to regret this…"

The rat snickered again. "Well if you would like to stay, we would always enjoy a nice feast."

More rats walked out of the darkness and walked closer to the group standing near the doorway, snarling their teeth at them.

Alvin glanced back at the group, and met eyes with Simon, the blue-clad chipmunk's ocean eyes were at a loss, he just stared back at Alvin worriedly.

"Alvin…don't worry about me, just go." Brittany said sadly, a tear brimming in her eyes.

The naked chipmunk turned and stared at Brittany, he met her eyes, staring into those bright ice-blue jewels. Alvin watched silently as the tear slowly slid down Brittany furry face and dropped to the wooden floor below.

As Alvin stared at that tear, as he looked into Brittany sad eyes, something clicked.

With his paws glowing a dim crimson red, and his eyes suddenly glowing a dull ruby, Alvin turned around and glared at the gray rat.

"Make one move and she'll be dead." The rat said simply.

"You'll kill her anyway." Alvin replied, his eyes slowly glowing brighter by the second.

"Oh, would you like to watch?"

"I'll give you three seconds to let her go." Alvin spoke quietly, his eyes almost glowing a full, bright crimson. He took a step toward the gray rat.

The rat chuckled slightly. "Kill her." He told the two rats holding Brittany.

…

A bright flash of red light rang throughout the room as Alvin slammed his glowing paw into the wood, the two rats holding Brittany were suddenly thrust up towards the ceiling.

A red blur and Alvin flashed forward and grabbed two metal nails off the ground…and like two bullets, he threw the nails up with all his strength.

They soared through the air before making a sickening '_thwack_' as they pierced the two rats through the base of their pink tails, ripping through and piercing the wood above…nailing them to the ceiling.

The most the rats' tiny lungs could produce were a few gut-wrenching squeaks of agony as gravity pulled on their bodies, causing their tails to stretch from the nails.

Before anybody could acknowledge what happened, or even move, Alvin flashed forward again, grabbing a sharp splinter of wood and lunging straight at the gray rat.

He squeaked in surprise as Alvin clamped a paw around his throat and held the sharp splinter to the side of his neck. Alvin lifted the rat off his feet and held him in the air, gasping for breath.

The rat's eyes went wide as he stared at the bright crimson glow in Alvin's eyes. They weren't an evil blood-red, but a glorious ruby color, shining in the dark…but they were tainted with pure anger and rage.

"_Now I'm no scientist, but if I shoved this through your windpipe, you would slowly cough up the blood from your lungs and die from the inability to breath, a very slow and painful death, much less than what you deserve." _

Alvin's voice was different, it still had the same high-pitched tone as before, but there was a second growl-like voice there, like a demon was copying everything he said.

The rat was shaking from terror by now. "P-please d-d-don't kill me." He stuttered, trying to avoid the bright-red glare of Alvin's rage-filled eyes.

_"Oh? What about mutilation? I don't call that killing, more like…torture."_ Alvin spoke quietly, a grin spread across his face. He was definitely not himself.

"Please, I'm s-sorry about what we did, j-just let us go, we won't bother you." The rat pleaded, he was truly frightened.

_"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE! I'm the judge of that!" _Alvin roared with his growling voice, crimson eyes flaring with rage.

_"And neither do they…" _He growled again, looking up at the two rats pinned to the ceiling by the nails, they were still frantically trying to pull their tails free…to no avail.

The rat followed Alvin's eyes, "Please no! That's my sister!" He pleaded, looking with tearful eyes up at one of the rats pinned by the nails.

_"You piss me off…I'll kill all of you for all I care!" _Alvin growled, his paw clenched around the sharp splinter tightly.

"Alvin…"

The naked chipmunk unexpectedly jolted, sending a bright red energy blast backwards, launching Theodore sliding back across the floor.

Alvin slowly turned around, eyes glaring directly at the green-clad chipmunk who had walked up to him.

His red eyes met Theodore's tiny green ones, and Alvin stared into those eyes, unmoving. He then looked above Theodore at the rest of the chipmunks, they were all staring at him in horror, shocked and fearful at what he had done, even Brittany was shaking slightly as Alvin glanced at her.

"Alvin…please, that's enough." Theodore spoke softly as he rose to his feet and took a couple steps toward his angry brother. And his crimson eyes slightly dulled down to a dark ruby, his original hazel-brown cores showing.

Alvin growled darkly and turned back to the rat he was holding. Slowly, he loosened his grip on the rat's neck and let him slide out of his paw and fall to the floor.

"Thank you! Oh thank you so m-"

But the rat was cut off as Alvin swiftly reached down and grabbed onto his tail, pulling the rat into the air. He swung around and let go at the right moment, letting the rat soar through the air and crash into the other nine rats standing a few feet away.

Alvin then flared his paws upward, the metal nails shattered to pieces, letting the rats previously pinned to the ceiling, crash down onto the floor before him.

The one that the gray rat had addressed as a sister, was squealing in pain from the impact. But Alvin walked forward and clamped his paw on the back of her neck, dragging her forward and stopping right in front of Brittany, who was still lying on the ground.

"Say you're sorry." Alvin snarled at the female rat.

She whimpered slightly before quietly speaking to Brittany with tears in her eyes. "I-I'm…s-sorry." She panted as Alvin released the back of her neck and dropped her to the floor.

"Go, all of you. GET OUT!" Alvin roared at the rats still standing there in shock.

Without another word, the group of rats scurried out of the front door of the house, the injured ones limped slightly as they ran out into the night.

Alvin walked over and kicked the front door shut with a _'slam'._

* * *

><p>It was silent in the house for a few moments as the group took in what happened.<p>

Alvin finally turned around from the door and faced them. "I'm sorry guys, I don't really know what got into me." He said guiltily.

They all stared at him in surprise, Brittany rose to her feet and slowly walked over to Alvin.

"Don't worry about it Alvin," she said gently, "You did what you had to, and saved me. Thank you." She smiled as she grabbed his paw and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Yea I guess, but I just suddenly got so angry…I didn't like it." Alvin said quietly, looking down at his paws.

Simon sighed and walked over to him, putting a comforting paw on his brother's bare shoulder.

"Alvin, it's alright, let's just not worry about it. We've all had a really, really long night and could do with some well-deserved rest, so let's go upstairs and get to it." Simon said with a smile, looking back at the other four, they nodded quickly. Jeanette was already yawning.

…

Upon going upstairs and searching the rooms, they found three of them, all were almost completely trashed. The house seemed to be ransacked quite a while ago.

But they settled on the largest room they could find, the bed was a feminine one, but they took it and started clearing off all the random objects sprawled across the lacey navy-blue covers.

"I don't understand," Ether complained while throwing off a broken toy car from the bed, "It's like they messed this place up on purpose…"

Vayle chuckled slightly. "I'm sure the people knew we would come here into this room, and that's why they made it all messy, just to annoy us."

Ether rolled her eyes at Vayle's joking tone.

"I think we're done, guys!" Brittany said happily as she fluffed up the soft big pillows at the front of the bed.

"Excellent!" Jeanette said as she plopped down against one of the big pillows, slightly sinking into it.

Simon laughed as he walked over to the purple-clad chipette and sat down next to her.

"Alright everybody, no more questions, no more thinking, no more nothing, let's just forget it for now and get some good sleep, we'll need it for tomorrow." Alvin explained as he too, plopped down against the big pillows.

"Agreed." Vayle sighed as he and Ether lay down next to Simon and Jeanette.

Brittany walked forward and dropped down beside Alvin. It was silent for a moment as she stared at him, noticing him shiver slightly from a cold breeze.

She smiled as she scooted closer to the naked chipmunk and gently wrapped her sleeved arms around him.

Alvin's tail flicked slightly as he noticed Brittany was actually holding him, voluntarily. But he decided not to question it and just hug her back, sighing from the warmth her small furry body was producing.

He knew it might not have been the best moment to say it, or maybe it was, but Alvin decided to whisper it into her ear anyway.

"You know, the reason I got so angry, it was my power thing, but it's also because I'm not going to let anything hurt you…I promise."

Alvin didn't flinch at the word, no demonic echo was heard taunting him. He said it proudly and truly, and he meant it.

Brittany smiled, there were no words to say, she just snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes for the night, feeling completely safe.

…

Ether was about to go to closer her eyes as well, but noticed there was someone still standing there a couple feet away.

She sat up slowly and peeked through the darkness. The window in the room was splaying bright moonlight across a portion of the bed, but she was looking through the shadows.

"Theodore?" She spoke quietly. "What are you doing?"

The small form of the green-clad chipmunk was standing there outside of the light. Silently staring down at his hind paws.

"Theodore! Come over here!" Ether whispered, trying to stifle a laugh, while at the same time she was slightly concerned.

Quietly, he turned around and slowly walked over to Ether. "Hey…"

"Theodore, what's wrong?" Ether asked worriedly, although she already knew the answer.

"Nothing…"

Ether tried to make eye contact, but Theodore was avoiding her bright eyes, earning him a sigh from the black-furred chipette.

"Theo…as Alvin said, don't worry about it, there's nothing we can do right now, worrying won't help so let's just lay down and get some good sleep, okay?" Ether tried to explain, only hoping she could get through to him.

Theodore slowly looked up and met Ether's eyes.

She smiled back, giggling. "Here, why don't you lay down with me?" She asked, gesturing a paw to the spot right next to her.

"Really?" Theodore asked happily.

Ether nodded with a grin, grabbing Theodore's soft paw and gently pulling him down to lay next to her.

Theodore sighed as he comfortably nestled against the chipette's side. "You have Eleanor's same nightgown." He mumbled quietly.

Ether looked down at the soft lime-green pyjamas Eleanor has given to her for sleep, her other clothes still at the hotel in Chicago.

"Yea…she was so nice to give them to me, you're lucky you have her as a friend." Ether spoke softly back to him, hugging him closer, trying to be as comforting as possible to the small chipmunk.

Theodore nodded with a content smile. "Yea, I am…"

And with that, a few seconds later, Theodore was sound asleep. Tiny snores already escaping his mouth.

Ether grinned and looked over at Vayle in time to see him silently mouth the words: 'Well done'.

'Thanks'. She mouthed back, smiling as she closed her eyes and quietly drifted off to Dreamhaven with the rest of the group.

They had finally reached a moment of complete peace. There were things missing of course. But for now, this night, they could at least have a peaceful, very well deserved rest…

* * *

><p>It was bright moonlit night that blared down upon the farmhouse that the group was resting in. Even so, there were several gray clouds dotted along the sky, like smudges on a glass lens.<p>

Hovering between these clouds was a large wolf, spreading his large wings out gloriously, enjoying the coolness on his black leathery body. Droplets of precipitation sprinkled all over his hide in the dull light between the clouds.

Kyro's fiery eyes glanced down at the tiny-looking house in the middle of the large grass clearing. The chipmunks had found a temporary paradise, at least comparing to their conditions a couple hours previously.

They were merely teenagers, fifteen years of age and they had already been through so much; constantly fighting off demons, even other viscous forest animals, and now a demented spirit that was not sane in the slightest, had kidnapped their sister, and friend.

"Do not worry tiny friends…you have Kobalt and Soron on the mission. Eleanor will be perfectly fine." Kyro spoke into the night, mostly to himself.

"I do not know what dreams may await you in Eternalon, but do not worry in this realm, I will watch over you this night." The wolf smiled slightly as he stared down at the house, his eyes allowing him to peer through the roof and into the room, seeing Alvin and Brittany holding onto each other tightly, Jeanette slumped against Simon's shoulder, and Theodore curled up next to Ether and Vayle, they were peaceful and Kyro wasn't going to let anything disturb that…not this time.

"Speaking of Soron…" Kyro said suddenly, remembering.

He closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the individual he was searching for, and spotted him quickly.

_"Soron, are you awake?"_

…

At the top of one of the tallest pine trees in the forest, on one of the thickest branches, sat a chipmunk, humming a soft melody with a twinleaf as he played with the soft sounds of the night forest.

He back against the main truck, he was lounging comfortably on the bark, one of his legs dangling off the side, his paws pressed on the twinleaf as he gently blew onto it, producing a very humble melody.

His light hazel eyes were staring at the bright full moon in the night sky, enjoying the quiet breeze rustling through the forest at this time, grazing slightly against his soft, crisp-brown fur, which would instantly bring up the thought of a perfectly baked waffle.

The bright silver armored trench coat jacket covering him surprisingly matched handsomely with his smooth fur, the bright moonlight blending the colors in a beautiful aura.

Even though it was practically the opposite of his source of energy, he had always had a certain respect for the moon; in his eyes, it was glorious, radiant, and always shining no matter what. Not only that, but it was as it was only because of the sun that shone on it from the other side of the planet.

And he loved the sun, as it loved him. The chipmunk smiled to himself at the humor he was displaying to himself, something he did often.

"_Soron, are you awake?"_

The chipmunk jolted up in surprise as the voice echoed inside his mind, he was shocked that it came at such a fun time, but he quickly discovered what it was, and his face soon turned sour.

"Aw, Kyro!" The chipmunk replied quickly, pressing two fingers to his right temple as he rose to his feet and planted them on the branch.

"And I was barely reaching the chorus of it too, ye lousy hooter you!"

He rubbed his aching temples as he felt the wolf's presence touch his mind. He put the twinleaf in his sweater pocket and looked out at the moon.

"What is your location?"

The chipmunk glanced down. "I'm pretty high up if you ask me…"

Kyro rolled his eyes at the telepathic response.

"You know what I mean."

"The Pikadra Burrow, well above it actually, why do you need to know anywho?" The chipmunk said with a humorous chuckle.

"Good, that's close. The chipmunks are resting now but tomorrow they are going to set off after to find their friend, Eleanor, who Phelan holds captive. I want you to wait for them." Kyro explained carefully.

"What?" The chipmunk snapped back, he hated the word 'wait'. "Kyro, you, of all the bastardly beasts I know, know that I _really _hate that 'w' word…"

Kyro rolled his eyes again, as always, the act looked strange because of his eyes being flames.

"Friend, I'm not going to stop you from going after him, but if you knew how many rules I am breaking by allowing you to join me, well you would have some respect and listen to a few minor orders." Kyro said annoyingly.

He groaned as he pulled out his twinleaf again, huffing in sheer annoyance. "Whatever Ky. You know that I don't listen to orders, especially from a bunch of sourpusses like the upper echelon of Dreamhaven."

"Heh, no doubt there. But they will need your help, and you will most certainly need theirs. Wait for them, it's not long." Kyro told the chipmunk, getting tired of arguing already.

"Whatever you say, boss. But I never needed their help, nor would I ask for it." The chipmunk replied coolly, his lips pressed gently to the twin leaf as he began playing his melody again.

"And Kobalt might be arriving too."

The chipmunk stopped playing again, smirking.

"Oh really? I might have some fun with her…" He chided, grinning widely.

"Yea and get your tail nipped clean off, I wouldn't mess with her, she's likely not in the best mood. Undergoing the Corporeal Ritual is not a pleasant experience, as I'm sure you know…"

"Sure…if you say so." Soron stretched and cracked a few bones on his back and neck.

"Anyway, I gotta go now, sleep sounds a little yummy to my eyes right now." The chipmunk said with a chuckle. "I've been travelling for a week without food, water and rest. I think this is a reward well deserved…"

"Indeed, until next time my friend."

The chipmunk nodded one last time before stepping to the edge of the branch, keeping his twinleaf, examining the below for a moment before jumping off the tree and soaring through the darkness below…

* * *

><p><em>His ocean-blue eyes were fuzzy.<em>

_Feeling like he just woke up, but he was already standing._

_The blue-clad chipmunk confusingly looked down, his feet were standing upon pebbles. Thousands of small stony pebbles covered the ground everywhere._

_Simon looked up, even more confused at the strange sight._

_In front of him, were hundreds of large boulder-like stones standing upon the smaller pebbles, scattered in every direction as far as his eyes could see. The rocks were a strange glossy black color._

_Simon then glanced up at the dark night sky, or so it seemed. The moon blared down brightly on him and the rocks, looking completely normal. _

_But there was something so frighteningly abnormal about this place that Simon wanted to scream._

_He shook his head and slowly walked forward, the small pebbles crunching under his feet, his claws scratching against them._

_Simon slowly reached forward and gently placed a soft paw upon the glossy black stone closest to him, it stood at least four feet tall, easily towering over the small chipmunk._

_"Obsidian." Simon mumbled quietly, rubbing his paw against the smooth shiny stone._

_The chipmunk was so busy examining the strange stone that he flinched when he heard the strange sighing noise coming from behind._

_He first thought it was a monster sneaking up on him, but was quite wrong in turning around._

_Simon looked up in horror, there a few hundred feet away, was what seemed to be some type of strange cloud._

_His eyes just stared at the strange thing in the sky, slowly floating closer and closer to the area._

_Simon plucked his glasses off his face and quickly wiped them on his sweater sleeve, shoving them back onto his face and examining the cloud-like thing closely._

_It wasn't exactly a cloud, more like a giant floating fog-beast, swirling around continuously. Except the 'fog' was looking like a dark gray in the night sky. _

_Emanating from this fog-like thing, was a strange sigh-like sound, like a tired wind that constantly flowed through tree leaves, or a sleeping man breathing heavily._

_Simon soon found himself unable to move, he tried to step forward, but his hind paws were rooted to the pebbles._

_He started to panic, he had no idea what the monster-like cloud was, but he didn't like it, and it was getting close. _

_Simon continued to struggle against the invisible bonds against him. That was until something penetrated his mind, and he was suddenly at ease._

_His muscles relaxed, and his eyelids fluttered slightly at the strange feeling, something calmed him. It told him not to worry, that everything would be over soon, and to not move anymore. _

_Simon smiled and obeyed the strange feeling, convinced it was the right and safe thing to do._

_And so the blue-clad chipmunk stood there, unmoving as the floating monster slowly glided down closer and closer to him and the obsidian stones._

_Simon didn't even produce a yelp as something suddenly slammed into him, bringing him forcefully to the ground._

_"Are you crazy? What do you think you're doing?" _

_Simon slowly sat up against the obsidian stone he was knocked against, and turned his head at the voice that was frantically whispering to him._

_"Oh, hello. Who are you?" Simon asked the angelic-looking chipette crouching beside him._

_Her fur was a glossy ocher-brown, glimmering beautifully in the moonlight, while the chipmunk stripes on her back were a strange glinting silver, the same thing with the tip of her tail, like stardust was constantly floating off its tip._

_The chipette turned and locked her shining green eyes with Simon's, staring at him like he was insane._

_"Simon, you idiot! You were about to die right there! You still are! Now shut up!" The angelic chipette whispered, sounding annoyed._

_Simon chuckled slightly. "There's no death in dreams like this, you should know that, pretty girl," replied the blue-clad chipmunk, seemingly ignoring the fact that she was trying to be quiet._

_"Pretty gi-?" The chipette shook her head quickly, her hair shaking in front of her bright green eyes. "Look Simon, I don't know what's wrong with you, but listen, I'm only going to say this once."_

_Simon sat up more, staring into the chipette's glowing eyes like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, listening attentively._

_"You're not here, you are in the middle of the Canadian wilderness in a farmhouse, lying in a bed with your friends and brothers. This is a dream. But the Sanctum of Dreamhaven has been infiltrated, and Cleansing Lockdown has commenced. Simon, you're in the wrong place at the wrong time." The chipette turned and pointed a paw at the foggy cloud slowly floating towards them. _

_"See that? You're not supposed to be here, it's looking for you. Simon, someone has damaged the thing that connects minds with dreams and you're in the wrong place. Listen to me when I say. You, can, die, here." The chipette was talking fast, frantically glancing back at the cloud, which was extremely close, almost directly above them._

_Simon's previously gleaming eyes were slowing dulling down as his brain starting to work normally again, the strange trance-like feeling escaping him._

_"As I said, the connection has been made solid for certain places, this is one of them. Simon, anything that happens to you here, will be physically transferred over to your real self on Earth, do you understand me?" The chipette said quickly, grabbing onto Simon's sleeved shoulder and staring him in the eye._

_Simon gulped down nervously before slowly nodding, glancing up at the cloud as fear crept into him, realizing what he was being told. He knew that he was now facing a true danger. Everything suddenly became clear and vivid to him..._

The floating cloud was now directly above the two chipmunks sitting against the rock, dim flashes of pure white lighting starting to sparkle around it, illuminating the darkness.

Another strange feeling shot into Simon, he gasped, the sudden uncontrollable urge to stand up coming over him.

And that's exactly what he tried to do, "Simon no!" The chipette whispered as she clamped a paw onto his wrist and pulled him back down against the rock, forcefully pulling him closer to him and wrapping her bare arms around him.

"Let me go!" Simon mumbled as he tried to push away from the chipette's tight grip.

"Fight it Simon, please. It's just trying to lure you out. Don't succumb to it." She tried to tell him, but he wasn't listening much.

Simon continuously struggled to get out of her grip, wanting with all his might to stand up and go to the gray fog cloud slowly lowering down towards them, as if it was calling him.

The chipette finally gave up, reaching down and clamping a paw onto Simon's ankle in a vice-like grip.

Simon snapped his head back at the sudden pain and looked at the chipette, seeing the anger in her eyes instantly shocking him still.

"Simon, I'm sorry but if you don't stop moving, I swear I will break your ankle right now," she whispered fiercely, completely serious. "I'm not going to let this thing kill you."

Simon gulped down, knowing the chipette was ready to hurt him if she had to. He willed with all his might to stop moving, and luckily, it worked.

"Don't move, don't make a sound. Just trust me." The chipette whispered into Simon's ear as she held him tighter.

The cloud above was still flashing with lightning, making the strange sighing sound.

Simon suddenly yelped in pain as a bright flash of white lightning shot down and sliced into the side of his knee. The pain was more extreme than anything he had ever felt. It was like his blood was boiled in his veins, and burning metal wires had clasped around his bones and were slicing into them.

His eyes watered with the unspeakable pain, trying with all his power and will to not move, and surprisingly, he managed it.

After a few moments, the sighing sound and flashes of light subsided. And all was quiet as the slowly swirling cloud floated there, almost a hundred feet above the two chipmunks sitting still against the obsidian rock.

That's when the fog started to lower down to them.

"Oh no…" The chipette breathed as she watched the dark fog slowly begin to surround them and cloud their vision.

"What's going on?" Simon whispered back, sensing something was more wrong than he thought.

"Take a deep breath," she replied quickly, eyes scanning around the dark fog that was slowly fading even darker all around them.

"What?"

"Do it, now."

Simon was confused, but he obeyed, inhaling in a large amount of air and holding his breath.

The moment he did it, the chipette reached up and clamped one of her paws over his mouth and nose, cutting off his breath.

Simon was surprised and was about to question her but stopped dead as he glanced forward.

Floating merely a couple feet away from them, was what seemed to be a puff of black smoke, swirling around continuously, growing bigger and bigger.

It began to twirl in lazy circles and glide out in every direction, splitting off in dark tendrils that waved around back and forth.

Simon's eyes were staring at the strange smoky creature, afraid of what its intentions were. Slowly, the twirls of black smoke glided through the air towards them, making the strange sighing sound.

The air above them began to glow slightly with the white light, making a hazy hue through the dark fog, like a spotlight through a black veil.

The chipette gripped onto Simon harder as she felt him start to tremble slightly as the curls of smoky fog swirled towards them, coming an inch away from Simon's shoulder.

The rest curling around the air beside them and snaking ominously around the obsidian rock they had their backs against.

Simon's heartbeat started to drum against his chest, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he clenched his hands, trying to calm himself down, but he was terrified.

The chipette quickly sensed this. She thought quick focused her mind into forcing a foreign energy into Simon's body, clutching him tightly.

Simon tried to gasp as he felt his blood slowly begin to go cold. He quickly realized the chipette was doing it, in an attempt to slow his heartbeat, so the fog did not detect them.

But the attempt was having more negative effects than good. It was slowing the sound of his heartbeat, but it was also freezing his lungs, depleting the extremely low amount of air Simon already had.

The swirling tendrils continued to wrap around them, surrounding the site of the obsidian rocks with their darkness.

Simon started to panic, the chipette gripped him even tighter, making him want to yell out in pain from her crushing arms, although she was keeping him alive by keeping him still.

But it would prove to not help, as Simon was out of air, he was freezing, and his lungs were shutting down.

If he didn't breath in air soon, he would pass out and die from it.

The chipette knew this, and she knew she might not have a choice for another few seconds. She was angry, the beast was not supposed to stay this long, it had been two full minutes already with it just swirling there, sightless, but attempting to find Simon by sound, sensing he was there.

She finally gave up, if she didn't let Simon take in air, then she would be the one to accidently kill him. So ever so slowly and carefully, she gently took her paw away from Simon's small mouth and nose.

He gasped for air.

The smoky tendrils jolted and 'turned' in their direction.

It wasn't his fault, not being able to breath for over two minutes, it was understandable that he gasped for air. But it was a fatal mistake.

The chipette's horrors were confirmed as they suddenly heard a strange whirring sound coming from above, she looked up at the fog.

The shining white light from before was glowing brighter and brighter, the loud whirring slowly turning into a screaming cry, as pores of white lightning began to crackle and form around it.

"Oh no…"

"What is it?" Simon panted, still recovering oxygen into his pained lungs.

The whirring stopped.

"RUN!" The chipette suddenly screamed, hopping to her feet and yanking Simon up.

She jolted away quickly, pulling him along. They made it two feet away from the rock when-

'_CRACK!'_

The obsidian stone…exploded.

Simon's yell of surprise was drowned away as he soared through the air, the bright flash of light and colossal crackling of lightning ringing all around.

Slamming into the small pebbles painfully, Simon groaned as he turned his cheek away from the ground.

Looking forward, he gasped, the pure obsidian stone they were sitting against… was non-existent. All that was left was a pile of broken pieces of smoldering stones and pebbles, which was scattered everywhere around them.

Gray, regular smoke was rising from the burning pebbles, which were singed from the strike, leaving some spots of Simon's fur nipped away at the fragments.

"Come on, get up. Hurry!" The chipette shouted as she ran over to the fallen chipmunk, sliding on the pebbles and grabbing onto his shoulders, pulling him quickly onto his feet.

"What is that thing?" Simon asked, horror in his eyes as he looked up at the smoky tendrils curling through the air towards them.

"Just run!" She shouted, watching the tendrils suddenly lash forward quickly, straight for them.

Pulling Simon along with her, the chipette ran, leading the way in between the large stones, weaving around them swiftly, kicking up small pebbles behind them.

"Please-" Simon said, tripping over the pebbles slightly, "Why is that thing after me? I didn't do anything!"

"It's the Cleanser, Simon, its one and only objective is to Purify." The chipette replied, nimbly dodging the large seemingly endless stones, pulling Simon along her.

"What does that mean?"

She glanced at him for a moment. "To destroy you."

"Does this monster have something against me?" Simon asked frantically, looking over his shoulder, noticing the dark fog nearing them quickly, the shadowy tendrils snaking along quickly.

"The place in Dreamhaven that holds the most important things, dreams too, the Sanctum. Someone has infiltrated it and attacked the bond that separates certain parts of dreams from the physical world, and Simon, I don't know how, but you're definitely not supposed to be here." The chipette shook her head.

"Who are you?" Simon asked curiously.

They heard a whipping sound coming from behind, the smoky tendrils slicing through the air and nipping against the stones and pebbles as they snaked a foot away from them.

"Irrelevant." The chipette replied quickly as she spun around, flaring a white flaming paw out, sending a bright wave of fire towards the advancing tendrils, blowing them back.

She spun back around and pulled Simon around another stone they were about to hit.

But her defensive attack seemed to have no effect, as the tendrils caught right back up to them, whipping at the stones crazily as the waved about.

The two chipmunks continued to sprint away from the advancing fog, but it was quick. The tendrils were whipping up small pebbles near their feet, sending fragments in front of their faces.

One finally struck forward and sliced into the back of Simon's thigh, earning a yelp of pain from him.

He tripped over himself slightly from the pain. And right as he did so, a large tendril slammed into the ground in front of the two running chipmunks.

They both tumbled over it, tripping through the air.

But another smoky tendril suddenly curled itself around Simon's ankle, and right before his head hit the ground, it yanked upward, letting go quickly, sending Simon soaring through the air for a moment before he slammed into the glossy face of one of the large rocks.

Simon groaned in agony as he slowly slid off the rid and dropped to the floor, face-first into the pebbles, again.

The chipette slid a couple feet as she slammed into the ground as well, stopping as her back hit a large stone.

There were a few moments of quiet as the fog slowly hovered over them, the shadowy tendrils swirling about, darkening the area.

They seemed to be in a sudden clearing of the large stones, leaving a wide open area, Simon and the chipette on either side of it.

She pushed herself into a sitting position, in pain from the blow of hitting the ground.

Simon was in pain as well, but he managed to stand himself up, knowing he could not have the luxury of lying there when there was a monster hunting him at the moment.

"Come on…get up." Simon groaned as he took a few steps towards the chipette mumbling in pain, holding her stomach.

"I'm fine Simon, you need to run." She replied, looking up at him, pushing herself to her feet.

"You come with-"

The area was illuminated as a bright strike of lighting slammed into the pebbles between Simon's feet.

He yelled out in surprise as he took a step back, and another strike shot down in front of him, missing his feet by mere inches, sending smoldering pebble fragments into the air.

The chipette took a few steps forward, seeing what was happening. "No…stop it!" She shouted up at the fog above.

Simon tried to walk forward but was again stopped in his tracks as a strike pierced the ground before him. This one so incredibly close that if he had stepped another centimeter, he wouldn't have a head right now.

So he slowly stepped back, bolts flaring all around the area, making a fuzzy whirring noise.

The small strikes of pure white lightning were slamming into the ground before him, forcing him to back up further and further to avoid dying.

"D*mn you foul beast, I said STOP!" The chipette roared with anger, flaring her paws upward, sending a massive wall of white flame towards the fog, some of it dispersed, which caught its attention.

A flurry of the smoky tendrils slam into her back, knocking her flat onto the ground, they shot forward and wrapped onto her arms, pinning them down and not allowing her to move.

It focused back on Simon, shooting a sharp bolt of the lightning down, piercing his foot this time.

The chipmunk screamed in agony, tumbling over himself and falling to the ground, slamming the breath out of him as he landed on his back.

The shock of the bolt flared inside his bones, eyes tearing up at the agonizing heat and rattling inside him.

The beast lowered down onto its prey, the dark fog settling around Simon and surrounding all sides of him, tendrils whipping around.

He looked around in horror, he was trapped, unable to escape or run, he could barely even move anyway, his nerves felt like they were on fire.

That's when he glanced up into the frightening tempest, middle flaring bright white and crackling with lightning as it began to whir loudly again.

Simon tried one last time, paining himself beyond belief, forcing his bones to move, he reached down and scooped up a handful of the pebbles, and with all his remains of energy, he threw the tiny stones upward towards the monster above.

But it was completely in vain. The pebbles just flew right through the dark fog. A few of them hit the crackling lightning, only to shatter into ashes immediately.

"Please…don't do this. I didn't do anything wrong!" Simon yelled innocently, tears appearing in his small ocean-blue eyes, as he knew what was coming.

"J-just let me go, let me wake up, I promise I won't come back here, I won't bother this place. Please!"

He pleaded with the beast, small sobs escaping his tired and pained throat as he stared at the crackling light and whipping tendrils, fog swirling around crazily.

But no matter how pathetic Simon pleaded, no matter how innocent he was, the monster didn't care. It had no reason to care, it had a job, and its only way to live was to follow it. Simon's cries were in vain, and all hope was lost.

He was helpless, no way to defend himself from his fate. Nothing, he had no power, no water to attack with, no strength, and no way to run. Simon could do nothing but lay there and let the beast 'Purify' the realm, and destroy him.

And Simon cried. He was going to die. His brothers and friends would wake up in a few hours to see him lying there, lifeless.

All his life he had never really done anything wrong, nothing to deserve a fate such as this. Nobody would have ever expected Simon to be the target of a mindless creature that wanted him dead for absolutely nothing.

He looked up into the torrential abyss of tendrils and lightning one last moment. The screaming sounds pierced his tiny ears one last time.

And he embraced it, he attempted to cast all his fear aside, and he closed his eyes, laying his head down against the rocks…

The chipette was watching the whole thing, no matter what the level of hopelessness Simon was feeling, it was absolutely nothing compared to how she felt right now, practically powerless against the tendrils as they pressed her arms into the ground, so utterly powerful that she was unable to move.

She wanted to cry as well, but couldn't find the strength in her. She watched Simon's tears roll down his cheeks as she lay there, only ten feet away, unable to stop the coming fate of the chipmunk.

There was almost no feeling worse than utter helplessness...almost.

But Fear, true Fear…now that was something.

And that is exactly what she felt. It was far worse than Simon's. It was the absolute dreadful and horrifying fear of knowing that she had failed the chipmunk, allowed him to die in the storm as she lay there and did nothing. She feared it completely… and something happened.

There is sometimes a moment, when true Fear becomes so intensely and incredibly powerful, that it overcomes all else. The Fear heightens to such a massive power, that it _becomes_ something new.

Something…greater.

It becomes true Love. That's what she felt, the true Love for the chipmunk laying there, discarding his life away as he was helpless against the monstrous beast hovering above him.

And in that powerful Love, grew a new power, the power…of complete Fury.

The stones her paws were pressed down against began to glow with intense white-hot energy.

A colossal explosion of flame and she screamed as she soared through the air, propelling herself off from the ground, ripping away from the binding tendrils.

The chipette crashed into the ground, hard, spots of fur on the front of her body burning with white flame.

"Ohh…now that hurt." She moaned as she slowly pushed herself onto her feet, paws glowing bright, eyes flaring the same color.

She glared forward at the creature of fog, knowing she only had two seconds left before it destroyed Simon into nothing.

A flash of blindingly pure light and Simon suddenly felt a paw grab onto his shoulder and shove him backwards with an extreme force.

He flew through the fog, hitting the ground and sliding across the pebbles before stopping, safely outside of the halo of the fog.

Simon was shocked and confused. He raised his head and looked forward. The chipette was standing in the spot where he was laying only a moment ago, her arms poised defensively and flaming white as she glared up at the monstrous cloud above.

It flashed its crackling lightning down at her, missing a couple shots by mere inches as she hopped to the side.

She swiftly retaliated by flaring her burning white paws upward, sending blindingly white flurries of flame upward at the fog, dispersing some of it away, which angered the beast.

The lightning and swirling torrent of tendrils flaring in a roar as a dark black flurry shot down, curving through the air before slamming straight into the small chipette's abdomen, knocking her cleanly off her feet, launching her into the air.

She screamed in pain as she collided into one of the large stones, cracking the surface of it.

Simon gasped. "No!" He shouted as he attempted to limp forward, reaching his paw out helplessly.

But the chipette dropped to the pebbles below, landing on her feet and raising her head, looking into Simon's eyes with her now light green eyes, some of the white fading away.

"Go, Simon. RUN!" She roared as she leapt through the air again, flashing her flaming arms forward, sending a few more blasts of the white fire at the whirling cloud monster above.

Simon was frightened at her voice, it was completely furious, she was utterly pissed off.

Yet he hesitated, not wanting to leave her with the monstrous fog beast.

And as if reading his mind, "Do not worry about me! Just RUN! I'll hold it off!" The chipette shouted back at Simon as she continued her rapid flashes of flame, flipping around on the ground as she nimbly avoided the flashes off lightning and whipping tendrils of smoky fog trying to grab onto her.

"And whatever you do," she spoke again, turning and staring Simon in the eye, "WAKE UP!" And she flared a paw directly towards him, a white wall of flame shooting forward and colliding on the ground in front of him.

Simon gasped and quickly ran out of the way of the blast. He glanced at her one last time before sprinting off in the other direction as fast as his four paws would carry him.

…

After nearly twelve minutes of constant running through the near darkness, Simon's four-toed feet finally hit dirt.

It took him a split-second to realize he was running on all four limbs, why did his feet hit first?

Simon squeaked in surprise as his front paws dove down into a tiny ditch, causing his feet to trip and tumble over himself, slamming his shoulder into the ground.

He painfully slid across the forest floor a few inches before stopping, sending sprinkles of dark-brown dirt into the dim-night.

Simon groaned as he moved his small arms forward and pushed himself up, looking forward.

He was lying in the middle of a small patch of trees.

Turning around, he saw that the stones and rocks had abruptly ended, leading to a tree-line, which Simon had entered without noticing.

He took a look around, only tall pine trees in every direction, dead silence overwhelming the area.

Simon groaned in annoyance as he sat up. He was trapped again…

But he couldn't just sit there, he had to keep moving, rising to his feet again and continuing running.

It was only another minute when Simon passed through a flurry of low hanging tree branch leaves, bursting through the tree line and stepping out into a field of grass.

It was completely endless, stretching out to the dark horizons across the sky, just a field of never-ending grass, the bright moonlight shining down brightly on the lush green.

Simon turned around, the high forest trees standing there silently in the night. He looked around… nothing to do but go straight.

So he ran, forward into the field of grass. Simon just hopelessly ran and ran until his tired paws finally gave in, dropping him to the ground. He had only made it about fifty feet.

Panting and exhausted, tired and scared. Simon knelt down into the grass blades, tears in his eyes.

"Please… just, let me wake up. I don't wanna-…" he sniffled slightly. "I don't wanna be here anymore."

Simon let the moisture drip from his blue eyes and fall onto the small grass blades below.

The image of the ocher-furred chipette with bright green eyes flashed through his mind.

_Who is she? _He wondered to himself, hoping she would be alright with the cloud-like beast.

He shook his head, trying to wake himself. "Please! Just wake up already!" Simon shouted into the air, talking to nothing.

Yet Simon barely felt like he was in a dream anyway. Everything felt so real, the pain, the sadness, the rocks, the grass…it was like he was actually _there._

But then again…maybe he was.

Simon vigorously shook his head again.

That's when he heard a dark chuckle from behind him.

Simon's blood ran cold. The voice sounded utterly demonic. It was a low growl, sounding like a tortured dog. The sound made him shiver.

He slowly turned around and looked at the black-furred chipmunk standing there before him, hands behind his back, eyes glowing a dark blood-red.

"I don't think that's quite how it works…"

"Who are you?" Simon asked curiously, quickly rising to his feet and backing away a couple steps.

The black chipmunk let a small grin creep onto his face.

"Apparently the one who brought you to this place."

Simon narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" He snapped.

The chipmunk shook his head disappointedly. "You know Simon, when I attacked the Sanctum, I imagined it would be pretty drastic, but I never thought I would accidently lure you into this Apex…"

Simon just stared at him, not sure what to say, but he knew this was not a friend.

"Let alone that, but who knew the Cleanser itself would come after you?" The chipmunk chuckled again.

"I mean, that's pretty impressive. A destructive beast so insane, its objective is only to kill. Only to hurt, and it goes after you because you're in the wrong place…I find it excellent." He explained with a growl-like laugh.

Simon didn't move.

"But then again…you managed to escape it somehow…When I think about it, I might prefer to kill you myself." The chipette said, staring Simon in the eye as he flashed forward and clamped a paw around his throat.

Simon barely had time to gasp, it happened so fast, he didn't see the attack coming.

"I think just this once, I won't let you suffer, perhaps just a quick spine snap?" The chipmunk asked evilly, no longer smiling.

That's when he felt something slam into him. Simon dropped to the ground, choking for air.

He turned and saw the chipmunk quickly rising to his feet, the ocher-furred chipette standing a couple feet away.

"Ah Vinny, you have arrived. And here I was thinking you were busy being ravaged to pieces by a destructive cloud of fog…" The black chipmunk spoke with a smile as he rose up and looked the chipette in her bright green eyes, who glared right back at him, arms poised in a defensive stance.

No words were spoken, they just stared at each other for a moment, until the chipette finally lunged through the silence, glowing arm flaring white.

The chipmunk flashed his arm out, stepping to the side and slamming it directly into the chipette's chest, making her keel over into the grass.

"Silly girl, you know you can't touch me here." The chipmunk said with a dark chuckle, looking down at the fallen chipettte, "But I most certainly, can hurt _you…_"

He slammed his leg into her stomach, kicking her into the air. She squeaked in pain, slamming into the ground a couple feet away.

She and Simon were both on the ground, next to each other. The chipmunk laughed again, staring at them. "Like mother, like son, I suppose…"

Simon's eyes did nothing. It took him a few moments to acknowledge exactly what the black chipmunk had just said.

The world seemed to go silent and slow for him as he turned his head and looked at the chipette kneeling next to him… her green eyes met with his ocean-blue ones.

Silence…

A silence… that was interrupted by a sudden, low hissing sound…

Their heads snapped around, looking at the dark tree line fifty feet away.

Slowly leaking out from the dark trees and into the moon-light, was the Cleanser, swirling around in dark foggy tendrils and small flashes of crackling lightning.

Simon's heart dropped. He had hope that the beast was gone, or had given up on him…but that hope was lost.

"I'm going to enjoy watching this." The black chipmunk spoke from behind, grinning darkly.

Simon and the chipette quickly scrambled to their feet, the arms of the chipette glowing white with flames.

She took a step forward, but was quickly stopped as she felt two arms wrap around her.

The black chipmunk yanked back, pinning her arms back, disabling her from moving.

She screamed, trying to rip away from him, but it proved impossible, her powers weren't working.

"I don't think we'll be having any of that now, my dear." He spoke quietly to her, chuckling darkly, the demonic growl echoing his words.

Simon was about to lunge at the chipmunk, but right as he turned around, he felt one of the smoky tendrils of the fog, slam into his back, knocking him painfully to the ground.

He flipped over, looking at the cloud now hovering above them, the lightning crackling crazily all around.

Simon's eyes narrowed, he was angry. That's when he realized what his paws were feeling, cold, wet grass. And grass was a plant… plants had water in them.

Simon quickly focused the energy into his paws, summoning up his elemental control, and he stood to his feet, ripping the water from the grass around him in a large circle, a large swirling bubble floating in the air, leaving the previously green grass now dead and dry of life. It was now a dark, dead brown.

Simon narrowed his eyes at the cloud as he quickly flashed a paw forward, sending quick tendrils of water at it, colliding straight with the dark smoky ones.

But Simon's heart dropped again as he saw the water tendrils faze through the fog with no effect whatsoever… his attack was useless.

The fog beast shot down its tendrils straight at Simon, slamming into his chest and knocking him into the dead grass, a couple of them wrapping around his shoulders, pinning his arms down.

Simon struggled painfully against it, but to no avail. He was far too weak against the power of the monster.

"NO!" The chipette screamed, trying with all her power to break free of the chipmunk, but she felt as though her power was taken completely away from her, and her body was frozen.

A dark laugh sounded from the chipmunk, his red eyes staring at the utterly helpless Simon.

_Not again…_ Simon said to himself, wanting to cry again. He had thought he had escaped, but it had just caught him again.

The world really can be a cruel place sometimes, even its dreams.

But there always comes that time, when the cruelty… is stopped.

The ground quaked as something slammed powerfully into it.

The three chipmunks gasped as they were all blown away from the massive blast.

Simon was ripped away from the smoky tendrils, his small body being thrown like a toy.

They all three slowly rose to their feet, dazed at what had just happened. It seemed so hazy, like a random bomb had exploded., leaving them confused.

The cloud shot down small blasts of lightning, burning small blisters in the dead grass. It was angry.

Simon almost screamed as his eyes found what had caused the massive blast.

It was a creature. What looked like some type of wolf-dragon mix, while its powerful looking legs ended with talon-like claws.

The beast's large eagle/dragon-like wings spread out wide, covering its back was multiple black spikes and spines, completely glinting sharp.

It's face was a wolf's, black in hide and spines like a dragon.

Enormous, ten-foot tall body ending with a powerful, spike covered tail, easily body-length.

This creatures entire body was completely black in color, its large eyes were glowing a bright pink.

"_I COMMAND YOU TO BACK DOWN!" _The beast roared at the fog-beast hovering there, causing it to swirl down, cowering in fear of the monster.

It then roared its large head up at the moon, inhaling deeply as it did so.

The Cleanser's sighing quickly turned into a scream-like sound as it was slowly sucked up into the giant monster's large jaws, like a vacuum.

A few moments of silence passed as the chipmunks stared at the enormous monster that completely towered over them.

The black chipmunk's eyes faltered as he looked at the god-like creature standing there, head still raised at the moon.

"What are you doing here?" He asked the creature, his demonic growling voice sounding faulty.

The large creature slowly lowered its head and looked down at the chipmunk, its pink eyes meeting the blood-red ones.

"Karceron, you filthy mongrel…do you fear me?" The creature spoke with a wise-harmonic voice, sounding like it had lived a very long time, full of pure wisdom. The voice literally sent shivers down Simon's spine, making him shake slightly.

The chipmunk's red eyes narrowed with rage. "I FEAR NOTHING!" He roared back, slamming his paws into the ground.

Simon gasped as the black chipmunk started to change, his small body stretching out and growing into something much bigger.

His snout grew to a larger size, claws stretching out, eyes narrowing further as he growled demonically.

After a few moments, there was a new beast standing there before them, fur looking even more sleek-black in the moonlight.

Simon almost thought it was some type of Lycan straight out of 'Underworld'. But it was much larger, and it made any other creature pale in comparison.

"_You pathetic coward, you are so frightened of me that you won't even dare to use your true form." _The beast snarled as he stared back at the creature that was now almost eye-level with him.

"You dare speak to me that w-" Karceron tried to speak.

But he was abruptly stopped as the creature opened his enormous jaws, flared out its colossal wings, and roared…

Simon and the chipette fell to the ground in agony, clutching their ears from the ground-shaking sound.

Karceron stepped back, flinching in pain from the frightening sound.

"_YOU WILL BE SILENT!" _The creature roared back as he stopped the ear-killing roar.

Karceron backed away more, his eyes filled with rage.

"I wish I could rip you to pieces right now…" The creature snarled angrily, claws scratching against the grass.

Karceron chuckled darkly, throwing his large head into the air. "You can't harm me here, poor beast!"

"Is that so?" The large creature asked, showing what seemed to be a slight smile in his wolf-dragon face.

And he opened his large jaws again, shooting the dark fog out of his mouth, straight at Karceron.

It collided into him, rapidly swirling around him, tendrils snaking around his limbs, completely ensnaring him within seconds.

"RELEASE ME!" Karceron roared back at the creature.

But he only laughed back at Karceron. "_Now feel the pain…"_

The smoky tendrils turned to flame.

Karceron roared in agony as the flames burnt into him. He rip away at him, slicing at them with his claws…to no avail, claws fazing through the flame.

_"I may not be able to kill you…but I can make you suffer for what you've done."_

Karceron roared over and over, writhing around at the flaming bonds, unable to escape, collapsing to the ground.

He suddenly looked up at Simon , staring the tiny chipmunk in the eyes.

"Get ready, rodent. The war is coming to you…"

Simon just stared back at him, not moving.

Karceron suddenly rose to his feet, glaring at the dragon-like creature once last time before lunging at him.

The beast took a step back, opening his large jaws again as white flame built inside his mouth.

He glared back at Karceron, and roared, the blast of flames soared through the air before colliding straight into him.

The night…exploded.

* * *

><p>It was a bright sunny morning now in the clearing, the farmhouse comfortably sitting in the middle of the soft green grass. It was a surprisingly warm day even though winter was nearby.<p>

Birds chirped happily in the distance, singing their upbeat songs of the bright new day.

The forest animals around played excitedly, havingd fun in the sunlight that. Foxes ran around collecting berries, squirrels happily collected nuts, while the deer ran around, undisturbed.

The day was a happy one, no animals were hunting each other. They all seemed to be taking a break from the violence and just enjoying themselves.

Something that Theodore just couldn't seem to do, no matter how hard he tried.

The small green-clad chipmunk was sitting on the dresser next to the window, staring out of the panes, eyes distant as he looked at all the green, lime-green in a lot of areas.

He sighed with deject, trying not to think of her. But he couldn't stop himself.

Brittany slowly peeked her tired eyes open, surprised at the bright sunlight that blared upon her furry face, although she was mostly happy to see it.

She turned, seeing Alvin's arms spread out wide against the navy-blue pillow, still snoring in deep sleep. She yawned just by looking at him, noticing how comfortable he looked, but she wasn't tired.

That's when she noticed the chipmunk-sized shadow displayed across Jeanette.

Brittany looked up towards the window, and spotted Theodore sitting there in front of it.

Looking at him strangely for a moment, she slowly rose her feet, stretching her tired muscles out, enjoying the feeling, also smiling as she remembered she was wearing Alvin's sweater.

Smiling brightly, Brittany hopped over onto the dresser Theodore was sitting on, earning her a surprised glanced from the small chipmunk.

"Hey Theo, good morning." She said happily, smiling brightly at him.

"Yea…sure is." Theodore mumbled quietly, looking back out the window, pretending to watch the birds flying around.

"Come on ya little furball, what's wrong?" Brittany asked curiously, a little disappointed at his glum mood. Theodore was always the cheerful one, she enjoyed seeing him like that, not this.

"Oh nothing, I'm fine." He mumbled, not even glancing at her.

Brittany stared at him strangely, and followed his eyes down to the bright green grass he was staring at. And it clicked.

"Oh…" She said sadly.

"Do you think she's alright?" He asked quietly, not taking his eyes off the grass.

Brittany looked down out the window too, thinking about the question for a minute. "Of course she's fine Theo, if I know anything about Ellie, it's that she's tough. She may act all innocent and shy all the time, that's who she is, but when she gets upset, she's pretty darn feisty, you and me know that best." Brittany said with a giggle, memories of Eleanor wrestling with Theodore and arguing with her, flashed through Brittany's mind.

"Yea, but still." Theodore said sadly, proving hard to cheer up.

"Come on Theo, evil chipmunk or not. She'll be fine, she's probably already out of there and walking back to us right now." Brittan tried again.

He glanced at her this time, catching her ice-blue eyes, making him smile shyly back.

"Besides, even if not, when we get there, I'll make sure I pay that jerk a couple death scars myself." Brittany said with a grin, raising her paw and igniting it into flames.

Theodore laughed a bit at Brittany's attitude. "Yea, me too."

Brittany's eyes widened. "Way to go Theo! Yea, we'll beat him real good." She said with a laugh as she cut the flame off and reached forward and gave Theodore a friendly hug.

He laughed too as he hugged Brittany back, enjoying their time together, feeling better already.

…

"It's official, this place is dead dry of food. Me and Theodore have looked for the past twenty minutes, nothing." Ether complained to Alvin, they were in the kitchen searching the pantries and drawers inside out for something to take with them to eat, they were preparing to leave the house.

"It's alright, we'll just find some berries or something." Alvin said, slightly annoyed. "Let's just get going."

Ether sighed as she hopped off the counter with Theodore and walked over to the front living room, Simon, Vayle, and Brittany were already waiting.

"Hey Alvin, I got you something to wear!" Jeanette said happily as she walked out of the downstairs room, holding something black.

"What's this?" Alvin asked curiously as she handed him the bundle.

"Just a little black trench coat I found on some doll, I thought you might like it." Jeanette explained, giggling slightly.

Alvin quickly slipped on the soft fabric trench coat, it reached down to his knees, fitting comfortably. Yet he stared at it for a moment.

"What's wrong Alvin?" Brittany asked. "You look fine."

"Yea, it's just…this is almost exactly what that Phelan guy was wearing when he took Eleanor." Alvin said, not sure why it bothered him, it just did.

"Well I'm sure he'll be happy to see someone following his style, now let's go." Vayle said, rolling his eyes at Alvin.

Ether hopped onto the copper doorknob, shifting her weight to open it, revealing the bright mid-day sunlight on the group.

"Nice day to go hunting, right?" Brittany asked jokingly.

And with that, the group set off towards the tree line, entering the forest again…

* * *

><p><em>"<em>So, you have finally set off after Eleanor…I say let's thin the numbers."

Karceron laughed as he walked back into the shadows of darkness.

"Unleash the Hounds…"

* * *

><p>It truly was a beautiful mid-day in the forest.<p>

Birds were chirping happily, animals ran around, playing, nothing really out of the ordinary.

"Brittany, are you almost done?" Jeanette asked her sister, who was sitting in a small waterhole, basking in the sunlight.

"Sorry Jen, this bath is just sooo good." Brittany sighed as she enjoyed the heated waters and the bright sun, making her soft fur truly shine beautifully.

Simon sighed as he watched Theodore and Ether wrestling playfully around in a patch of soft grass, sunlight turning their clothes a perfect shade to blend in with all the plants.

Alvin was hanging on a branch above Simon, Vayle, and Jeanette, where all of them were relaxing under the shade of a tree next to the waterhole.

Simon's mind was wandering about everything, but the extremely strange dream he had last night wouldn't go away as it plagued his thoughts like a storm cloud.

Vayle was absentmindedly twirling his black blade around in his paws, sighing with boredom.

"Hey Vayle, can I take a look at that knife?" Simon asked him suddenly.

Vayle eyed Simon curiously for a moment before shrugging, handing the blade over to him.

"Hmm…from the looks of it, this knife is made of obsidian, forged along with stained steel," Simon commented, turning the weapon over in his paws, staring at it with fascination.

"Uh, how did you know?" Vayle raised an eyebrow.

Simon merely shrugged, handing it back to Vayle.

Jeanette was almost worried. Simon never acted like this; he was never quiet, always the talkative one, usually commanding Alvin and Brittany to stop doing things.

But today, he didn't seem like the Simon she knew.

"Alright guys, I'm ready!" Brittany announced as she slowly stepped out if the water, her glossy ocher fur shining with droplets of water.

She stepped over to a rock in the sun, crouching down on all fours and vigorously shaking her fur free of the water, causing Alvin to discreetly stare.

Walking over to the red sweater he had given her, she picked it up and slipped it over her soft fur, sighing at the coziness of it.

"Alright guys, let's get going. Break time's over." Vayle spoke up as he rose to his feet, helping Simon up. The blue-clad chipmunk walked over to Jeanette and gently pulled her to her feet, earning him a shy giggle.

Theodore and Ether walked over to them, still laughing from their match.

"Alright then, Jeanette, you still remember which way to go?" Alvin asked as he dropped from the branch, landing perfectly in front of the group, his black trench coat flapping in the soft breeze.

"Yep, that way." Jeanette replied with a smile, pointing to the right of them.

The group set off right away, sprinting down a small hill.

But it was only a few minutes of running, until they heard something.

A rustling in the bushes nearby, a claw slicing against a tree in front of them.

But they were surrounded by trees, a spot where the sun didn't leak through. They were in shadow, bushes surrounding the trees and clouding their vision slightly.

"Oh no…" Brittany spoke quietly, igniting her paws into flames as she looked around at the trees, trying to spot what made the sounds.

"What is it this time?" Alvin grumbled as everybody stopped in their tracks, eyes scanning the shadows carefully.

Everything was practically silent as the group just stood there, looking around… waiting for something to happen.

"Just stay calm and keep an eye out for anything unusual," Simon told them as he reached down, picking up a stick, as if it might prove useful in a fight.

It wasn't long before they finally heard a low growl sound from behind the bushes.

They all turned in that direction, watching the bush carefully…

Alvin yelped as something crashed into his back, knocking him forward.

The chipmunks spun around, weapons at the ready, but gasped as they saw it.

Fur completely blood red, eyes a deep penetrating black, claws sharp as glinting steel, jaws wide and square.

The creature standing before them was a snarling monstrosity, standing easily four-feet tall. It closely resembled some type of ferocious, red dog.

Brittany reacted quicker than anyone. She stepped to and flared her paws upward, straight at the snarling beast.

A fountain of pure-blistering flame shot forth and blasted the hound in its jaws.

The bright orange-red flames illuminated the shadowy area brightly. The hound roared as it gulped down the flames with ease.

Brittany took a step back as she let off, watching the creature, surprised it was still standing, unharmed.

"Uh, guys…this thing isn't dying!" Brittany yelled back at them.

"Oh really?" Alvin yelled back sarcastically.

He then stepped forward, paws glowing red.

But the beast disappeared.

"What the-…" Alvin said as he spun around, the creature was gone.

_'SLAM!'_

Theodore squeaked in pain as he was thrown off his feet as a large paw slammed into his back.

The group spun around again. There was the red-furred dog-demon again. Standing next to it, was a second one…

Alvin growled at them, walking forward again.

But the hounds reacted way too fast for anyone to attack. One lunged forward, smacking a paw into Jeanette, sending her flying, the other flashed forward, slamming a large clawed-paw in the middle of the group.

The chipmunk scattered just in time, Theodore's tail getting nipped just barely.

"These things are quick." Alvin remarked, eyes narrowed as he looked around for the hounds, they had disappeared again.

But right as he said it, they heard a roar that practically shook the trees.

Alvin gasped as he spotted one of the dogs lunge at him. He thought quick, reaching for Brittany, who was right next to him, and sticking his glowing paw out.

A red-glowing shield quickly burst out of Alvin's paw and collided into the beast, launching it back into a tree, cracking it in half.

"Wow, Alvin." Brittany said as the two chipmunks quickly rose to their feet, "That was pretty cool."

Alvin grinned at her, "Thanks."

The other hound was already attacking Simon and Vayle, who were swiftly dodging its quick slices, attacking it back with their weapons.

But they were barely making a mark in the large demon, it was tough.

That's when Theodore rose up and ran in front of them, quickly sticking his small arms out, and blasting the hound away easily with a shredding gust of wind.

It flew back through the air, crashing into the ground, not sliding an inch before pushing itself quickly back onto its limbs, snarling angrily.

The two hounds ran a couple feet forward, stopping in front of the chipmunks, then slowly started to circle the group.

The chipmunks were poised, ready to defend themselves, although they had a feeling they might not make it out unharmed.

A moment of quiet growling from the two hounds, and they lunged.

They both yelped in surprise at the same time as two different things slammed into each of their stomachs.

They flew back, hitting the ground again.

On one side of the group of chipmunks landed four animals, which the chipmunks quickly saw were rabbits, clad in nothing but vines wrapped around their shoulders and torsos, holstering small blades. In their paws, were bows, the arrow holders slung over their back.

On the other side, landed another chipmunk, clad in a bright silver armored jacket, a long slender blade holstered on his back.

"What just happened?" Alvin asked with surprise.

"Seems to me like you chaps just got your arses saved, that's what." the silver-clad chipmunk said, his eyes glaring at the red hound rising to its feet again, slightly dazed from the newcomer's attack.

"Who are you?" Brittany asked him.

"Actions first, then questions later, if you don't mind." he replied, withdrawing his sword, a bright glow flashing over it as it slowly formed into a bright, gleaming bow.

He watched the hound carefully as it stepped closer to him, snarling angrily.

"Come on Clifford, come get some." The chipmunk mumbled quietly, his eyes fixed on the sheer black ones of the red beast.

The hound stared back at him for a moment, eyes unmoving.

It lunged with an ear-piercing roar. The chipmunk smiled, launching himself high into the air, pulling the bowstring, a bolt of pure light forming in between the sights as he aimed…then fired.

The bolt found its mark on the back of the hound's neck, earning a small whimper from the beast before it crashed to the ground, loudly.

The chipmunks gasped as they jumped out of the way of the incoming hound, it slid a foot or so before stopping, dead in the dirt.

The silver-clad chipmunk chuckled to himself.

The other hound however, was staring the four rabbits down, their quivers aimed at it as well, completely unmoving.

But it suddenly flashed away, leaving them in a daze.

Everybody looked around in horror, the hound was nowhere.

That's when Jeanette screamed.

The red beast slammed her back into the ground, reaching forward and raking a claw across her soft exposed belly.

The four rabbits quickly spun around, firing their loaded bows directly at the hound, they collided directly into its side and neck.

The beast whimpered, backing away from the sharp arrows, the rabbits quickly loaded more, firing again.

The hound roared one last time before disappearing again into the forest, gone this time.

"Jeanette!" Simon shouted as he quickly hopped over to her, dropping his stick and kneeling by her side, examining her wound.

It was deep, the slice has cut straight into her, and she was currently barely able to breathe.

"No…" Simon almost whispered, looking into her tearful frightened eyes. She was shaking.

"Outta the way, lemme see her," the silver-clad chipmunk spoke as he walked forward.

But Vayle stepped in front of him, black knife pointed at the chipmunk's throat.

He immediately threw his paws into the air. "Whoa there, I ain't the enemy here!"

"Who are you?" Vayle snarled, not taking the knife away.

"Name's Soron." The chipmunk replied, staring at the knife carefully.

"How can we trust you?"

"Well, you're alive aren't yeh?"

Vayle clenched the blade tighter, staring Soron in the eyes.

But Soron finally just scoffed. "Nice knife." He said with a laugh, swiftly kicking Vayle straight in his chest, knocking the black-furred chipmunk to the ground.

Soron was knocked off his feet as the ground below him exploded.

He flew through the air, flipping himself and landing perfectly on his feet, unharmed.

"Dang, mate. Powerful reaction you've got there." Soron remarked with a laugh as he walked forward, gripping Vayle's paw and pulling him to his feet.

Vayle just glared at him angrily.

One of the rabbits had walked forward, crouching down beside the smaller chipette, looking at the wound with worry.

"Sorry about that Soron, but it looks like we got a situation here." the rabbit spoke.

"Aye, what is it?" Soron asked as he walked forward, looking down at the injured chipette.

"Girl's bleeding out, fast. We're losing her like our next supper." They watched as she reached on the ground, retrieving a small bush leaf, handing it to Soron.

He quickly took it, reaching down and pressing the leaf over Jeanette's cut, which was bleeding massively.

That's when he yelped in sudden pain, the leaf disintegrated into ash in his paws.

"What the-?"

Jeanette screamed in pure agony, her eyes glowing bright blue now.

"What's wrong?" Simon frantically asked, staring at Jeanette with worry.

Jeanette's entire body was now emanating with small blue bolts of electricity.

The female rabbit quickly reached forward, carefully pulling Jeanette's soft purple night gown off of her small body.

"This ain't good." Soron spoke quietly, watching the bleeding wound.

"What?" Brittany snapped, watching Jeanette with shock, who was shaking horribly, eyes wide with fear and pain.

"She's bleedin' even faster, her electricity is accelerating the blood flow...it's killing her." Soron explained. "And now I can't touch her without getting my tail shocked off."

"Jeanette! Stop it!" Simon frantically told her, reaching forward, but quickly pulling his paw back, remembering she was deadly to the touch.

The chipette wasn't acknowledging him; her eyes were glowing blue, wide as if looking through everything.

She gulped down painfully, making a small whimpering noise.

"I got an idea." Soron said, pulling the slender blade from his back, which had returned to its original form.

"What are you doing?" Simon growled, clamping a paw on Soron's blade wielding arm.

"If there's anyone you can trust, it's me." Soron replied, looking Simon in the eye.

"I'm going to let the metal channel the energy, which will then hopefully divert and reverse it, pulling the blood flow back, because at this point, she'll be dead in two minutes." Soron explained carefully.

Simon just stared Soron in the eye, not sure if he trusted the strange chipmunk or not.

"It's either this or she's dead, buddy." Soron replied, staring Simon right back.

There was a moment of silence. This was the moment where the next word Simon said, would determine the fate of Jeanette, it would mean life or death…

"Fine." Simon snapped as he released Soron's arm.

The crisp-brown-furred chipmunk nodded, reaching the blade forward.

"Light give me strength…" He mumbled as he slowly lowered the tip of the thin blade down onto Jeanette's wound.

Jeanette screamed again as she clenched her paws, the pain was blindingly powerful where no words could possibly describe it.

But Soron did not let up, instead he watched the tip of the blade glow white as the electricity flared around it, channeling energy into the metal.

Finally, it clicked, the crackling energy shot back, into Jeanette's veins, forcing the flow of blood back into her body.

Jeanette screamed one last time as she arched her back, raising her arms up high…and slamming them down into the ground.

The massive shockwave of energy blew everybody off their feet, slamming them into the ground, eight feet away.

Simon quickly got up, looking at Jeanette, who was lying there quietly, eyes closed peacefully as she breathed with tiny snores escaping her mouth.

All that was left of the wound was a sealed scar that looked barely a week old…

* * *

><p><em><strong>The most I can ask is a simple review, a mere comment. Three weeks of hard work, 27,000+ words long? <strong>_

**_I appreciate it indeed. For now...until next time, friends._**

...

**Haven to the Power of it all (BusyLovingChipmunks)**


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